


In His Shadow

by NocturnaMajora



Category: Naruto
Genre: Anbu Hatake Kakashi, Anbu Uchiha Itachi, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Big Brother Uchiha Itachi, Character Death, Dark, Developing Relationship, Dorks in Love, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Intimacy, Konohagakure | Hidden Leaf Village, Multi, Original Character Death(s), Other, POV Hatake Kakashi, POV Uchiha Itachi, Post-Naruto Time Skip | Naruto Shippuden, Psychological Drama, Psychological Trauma, Romance, Romantic Friendship, Sarcasm, Seduction, Sexual Fantasy, Sexual Humor, Sharing Body Heat, Slow Burn, Touchy-Feely, Uchiha Itachi-centric, Uchiha Sasuke & Uzumaki Naruto Friendship, Uchiha Shisui Lives
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-04
Updated: 2020-08-09
Packaged: 2020-11-23 13:46:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 17
Words: 105,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20893076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NocturnaMajora/pseuds/NocturnaMajora
Summary: 'I don't even know who you are anymore.' she said as the last stand against him, knowing very well he was not the same boy she had left behind when she disappeared from his life. He was a man now, his looks and demeanor were different. Then why did he feel ever so familiar to her? 'You do.' He replied. ' I'm the same person I've always been. And I'll always be there for you.'(Angst, love, friendship, self-discovery, mature contents such as physical and psychological violence, murder, depression, suicide attempt and raging teenage hormones ahead, be mindful that some of the chapters will be rated M for these specific reasons). (Work In Progress)





	1. The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> The story has to start slow because the characters are very young. The innocence won't last though and heavy trauma will ensue. If you are uncomfortable with depression, anxiety, signs of PTSD disorder, very dark thoughts and teenage sexuality, I would suggest to focus your attention on another story. Hope you guys enjoy!

> You. You will become my new light.

All she could hear was the beating of her heart through the pounding in her ears. The pain was something so intense she thought she would die. There was no way of knowing what was happening to her since her eyes were closed shut. Voices around her felt so close but she couldn't depict the words. Everything was a blur and all she could do was to keep pushing. She had been a shinobi all her life but this pain was the worst kind of torture she’d ever felt. She gripped the sheets of the bed she was lying on, her toes curled in pain. She knew it wouldn't be much longer before her body would rip under the pressure of this surge of pain. She was about to crack, her mind slowly giving in to despair when she heard a soft noise. It was so faint yet so strong at the same time. The pain slowly died down and she could finally open her eyes. Her vision was blurred but she could see what she had been striving for all along. She heard a little creature cry and she slowly focused her gaze on the baby she was now holding in her arms. Her green eyes met the infant's black marbles. The small creature then stopped crying and deeply gazed in at her and she realized at that point that all of this that had happened to her until now was for this exact moment of happiness.

...

Miyeko looked outside her window. It was still dark outside and the moon was almost gone in the horizon. She rose from her bed and walked to the bathroom where she bathed quickly. It was a typical morning where she had to attend Konoha's Ninja Academy. At 8 years old, Miyeko of the Nagaki clan of Konoha was about to graduate from the Academy with the highest of honors. Her parents were so proud and the whole clan called her a prodigy. She brushed her long black locks and looked in the mirror. Her reflection showed how an eight-year-old girl could already be tired of life. She frowned. No, this is not how she should act. She wasn't tired of life. She was tired of _ her _ life. Already at such a young age she felt the pressure of her clan to triumph and to shine like the dawn. She exited the bathroom, put on the black kimono her mother had sown for her and walked down the stairs to join her parents in the kitchen where they had been waiting for her. "Miyeko, there you are. Have you made the necessary preparations for your graduation today?" asked her father.

"Yes, Dad. The paperwork has been signed." She replied, sitting down next to her big sister, serving herself breakfast. Unlike her, her big sister Kuri had flowing white hair and dark eyes, meaning she had inherited the clan's Kekkei Genkai, the use of dark chakra. The Nagaki clan was renowned for using dark chakra nature techniques that terrified the shinobi world. This unnatural energy phenomenon was occurring rarely, in very special individuals and that is why Kuri was one of Konoha's most notable and respected shinobi. At the age of fifteen, she was part of the Hokage's personal guard and a Black Ops operations officer. She was everything Miyeko disliked about the shinobi life. Her sister represented the unrealistic expectations of the life of a shinobi. Her life that wasn't truly her own. Unfortunately, Miyeko had decided at a young age, just as her sister did before her, that the shinobi way was the sacrifice that she had to make to protect the civilians and the people she cared about in this village. Miyeko ate her food silently while her father smiled at Kuri, his oldest daughter. 

"My special girl. I hope your assignments weren't too hard this month."

"I find this time of year boring in the ANBU, nothing special happening." She said in between two bites. The sun was finally showing its beautiful pink colors in the sky, meaning it was time to go. Miyeko slowly got up and thanked her parents for the food. "We're sorry we can't make it today to your graduation sweetheart." Said her mother. "It's been a busy time at the hospital and Ibiki has had your father working on difficult cases lately. I hope you can forgive us." She continued.

"Of course, Mom. I will see you later." Miyeko wasn't surprised her parents couldn't make it to graduation. She walked towards the main door, put on her sandals and headed out. She quickly noticed that her sister was trying to catch up to her. "Miyeko, wait." She said to her. Miyeko stopped and smiled.

"Kuri, you'll be late yourself, what is it?" she asked. Miyeko had always adored her sister and almost pitied her for the way she was being pushed into a life that wasn't her choice. Kuri's long white braids brushed Miyeko's shoulders as they hugged.

"I am so proud of you, Miyeko. I can't believe you're already graduating. You're so young to go on this path of the shinobi… Are you sure that this is what you want?" she asked her.

"I've always followed the road chosen for me. It's unfortunate that it has the be the path of the ninja, but I know it’s my destiny. Being a ninja of Konoha… It's what’s expected of me." She replied. Kuri smiled a fake smile, like she wanted her sister to know that she approved her choice even though it saddened her.

"Please, make sure you don't lose yourself in this shinobi business. Soon, with your amazing talent, you'll climb the shinobi ladder and you might get tempted to lose your spark as a decent human being. Do me a favor and don't. It would break my heart to see you succumb to darkness, Miyeko. You know of our clan's history, right Miyeko? Those who are born Nagaki are tempted by the shadows yet they see the light in the face of adversity. Never forget that. Here, I want you to have this." She handed her forehead protector to her younger sister, who suddenly bore wide eyes. Her silver and black forehead protector had been the only sentimental possession Kuri had ever kept to herself and Miyeko didn't understand why she was giving it to her.

"But, Kuri! I can't accept that! It was your very first forehead protector!" she was about to push it away but Kuri forced her hand on it.

"I want you to take it. I know I have been away for quite some time now due to work, but with this forehead protector, I can stay close to you and protect you because I'm your sister and that's what big sisters do. Make me proud. Make your clan proud, Miyeko. Mom didn't sow the clan's crest, our rising sun, on your kimono's back for nothing. You may not have the darkness in your chakra like I do, but you can find light in your actions. That's your strength. Now, it's time for you to go, you'll be late. I'll see you soon, Miyeko." She kissed her sister on the forehead and disappeared in the morning shadows. Miyeko smiled. Kuri was her aspiration, her hero. Since they were little, Kuri had taken the brunt of their parents expectations and dreams. After all, she would succeed him after his passing as Head of Clan and the heir always shines brighter than the rest. As for Miyeko, she had to follow in her sister's steps and try to meet the heavy and unattainable expectations of her clan, of her family, just like her sister did so perfectly. She looked at the rising sun and knew she'd be late if she didn't hurry to the Academy. She ran to her destination with a brighter idea of who she wanted to be and her smile gleamed in the dawn's light.

When she got to the Academy, the sun was higher in the sky and she saw the many parents waiting outside for their sons and daughters to graduate. Miyeko had made a few friends while she was at the Academy, but no one she could put her trust into when in a sticky situation or confess her secrets to. Maybe that's why her bond with her big sister was so great: she had been her only friend for as long as she could remember. As she walked through the crowd of parents and excited children , Miyeko bumped into a strong, tall man with black hair. "Oh, I'm sorry, sir." This man looked at her with his onyx eyes. Miyeko felt threatened for a moment, but when she noticed the Uchiha crest on his kimono, she smiled. After all, the Nagaki and Uchiha had been allies for a while, her sister had told her.

"Aren't you the Nagaki girl that's graduating?" he asked. She smiled politely. Of course, the crest on her back gave her away.

"Yes. My name is-"

"I know who you are, Miyeko. My son talks to me about you all the time. He tells me you have exceptional talents, speed and stealth being your strong suits. He told me he enjoyed sparring with you and that you proved to be an 'interesting challenge'. Doesn't surprise me coming from the Nagaki clan." Miyeko blushed. He couldn't mean _this_ son, could he? This boy who came in first in their class, outclassing her by just this little bit… Itachi Uchiha, the Uchiha clan's prodigy, talked about her?

"I hope Itachi and I can continue to be an inspiration to each other to keep improving." She said politely. She noticed the Chunin teachers were coming outside to greet the graduates and Miyeko bowed politely to Fugaku Uchiha while walking back to her group. Immediately she searched in the distance the boy who praised her to the Uchiha Clan Head, like she was his equal. "Miyeko, there you are! We were waiting for you!" said her teacher, inviting her to join the rest of the group inside. 

"Where are your parents, Miyeko? I was expecting to see your father today." Miyeko's smile disappear.

"Dad had to assist Ibiki-sensei today. Mom couldn't escape the hospital. I came alone." She said. The other kids started building around as they were ready for the ceremonies of graduation. Her Chunin teacher frowned. "You have to be accompanied by a parent or a guardian to be able to graduate, Miyeko… I'm sorry." He said to her. That's when Miyeko realized that even though she had all of the tools to be a shinobi, the only weapon she was missing was support from her own family. She sighed and was ready to be removed from the ceremony when somebody tapped her shoulder from behind. Miyeko's intuitions were always correct and she could feel every single element in this room that held chakra but never sensed this person coming from behind her. She smiled and turned around. "Kuri!" she beamed at her sister and Kuri nodded at the teacher.

"I'll vouch for her today. Thank you, Adamei-sensei." Adamei-sensei nodded. "It's good to see Konoha's Shadow Dweller back in this school." The rest of the ceremony was a blur to Miyeko, who was only too happy to see her favorite person in the world walking with her to receive her forehead protector on this special day. When her name was called to meet the Third Hokage, she followed her big sister and bowed alongside her to the leader of the village of Konoha respectfully.

"Ah, Nagaki Miyeko. I had been waiting for you. I see Kuri will vouch for you today. Excellent! Here, come and receive the proof that you're a true shinobi of this village. I present you your very own forehead protector. I hope you have a long and successful career as a shinobi, Miyeko." He presented her with a standard forehead protector and Miyeko smiled politely, like she was so used to doing.

"I have a special request, Lord Hokage. I wish to become a ninja of this village wearing _this_ forehead protector, please." She said, handing over the forehead protector that her sister gave her earlier today. The Third Hokage laughed and looked at her. "This one is old and used, my dear." He said to her.

"Yes, Lord Hokage. This is exactly why I want this one to graduate with. My life as a shinobi of this village will also be bearing cuts, dents and will be dulled with time. It will give me inspiration to carry on with the heavy duties of my choice. It will be a difficult life with strides and hardships. This shiny and untouched forehead protector means nothing to me." She explained to him. Hokage smirked and laughed a little.

"Sometimes, I wonder if you really are eight years old, little girl. You and your parents must be proud, Shadow Dweller." He said to Kuri. "Yes, very much so, Lord Hokage." She said, bowing down in respect to the most powerful shinobi of this land. The Third Hokage blessed her forehead protector and handed it over to her.

"Congratulations, Miyeko. You are Genin now." He said, his old and raspy voice echoing in the room. Miyeko accepted his blessing and Kuri held her by her shoulders lovingly as they left the room. Miyeko looked at her used forehead protector and looked at Kuri. "Thank you, Big Sister."

"There's nothing to thank me for, Miyeko. It's a bittersweet moment for me to see you graduate so young, actually. You see, it's not a life I would have chosen for myself and seeing you there, so compliant to your future as a ninja of this village, it kind of breaks my heart a little bit. You're growing beautifully. Now, come here." She said, grabbing her old forehead protector and tying it to her little sister's neck. Miyeko looked puzzled. "Why around my neck, Kuri?" she asked.

"A Nagaki clansman never gets hit on the head. We're just too comfortable to melt and hide in the shadows for that to happen." She said laughing. Miyeko also laughed and turned her gaze around to two walking figures heading to the ceremony room. Her eyes now focused on a small figure in the distance. She saw what she had been looking for earlier that day. This kid with long black hair and with porcelain skin was looking straight towards her while walking next to his father. Fugaku also nodded at her while a rare smile. The young boy with dark eyes looked straight in her direction and she blushed, surprised. She noticed how deep his gaze was, as if he tried to read her. He smiled at her, making her heart stop a little. It was him. Itachi Uchiha.

"Hi." She said and waved back at him, a tiny smile on her lips. He seemed taken aback by her sudden interest in his presence. Kuri smirked as she saw her younger sister try to socialize with one of weirdest kids she's ever met. Itachi Uchiha was, as Kuri knew, an introverted and silent kid that had a lot of problems making friends. It was nice to see her little sister make the first step in them becoming friends. To her surprise, Itachi waved back as him and Fugaku entered the room to meet the Third Hokage. Fugaku Uchiha wasn't a person who commonly acknowledged children from other clans but had noticed her younger sister… That raised doubts in Kuri's mind right away.

"Well, are we going home, Kuri? You know you'll get in trouble if Mom and Dad came to know you ditched your mission today to come here." she said to her older sister. Kuri was too preoccupied by the switch in attitude of the Uchiha boy towards her little sister to acknowledge Miyeko's statement.

"Uh, sure. I'll figure it out. Don't worry about it." She said as they both walked out of the Academy, walking side by side. Miyeko was beaming and wearing her forehead protector proudly while Kuri frowned. She would have to have a talk with her parents soon about Miyeko, she feared. She wouldn't mention anything to Miyeko for now. It was her special day after all. They walked together in the sunlight back to the Nagaki compound, Kuri walking with her little sister on her shoulders, both of them smiling.

Two days had passed since the graduation ceremony and Miyeko woke up with the sun's rays shining on her face. It certainly had been a few interesting past days. Kuri declined all of her missions to train Miyeko and her parents were furious at her older sister for that. Kuri was the pride of the small Nagaki clan and her dismissing her duties to take care of her little sister seemed irresponsible and was even endangering the clan's reputation. But Kuri didn't seem to mind all this negative attention. She focused her energy on Miyeko mastering her shadow shuriken techniques before she was put in a Genin team. They had been training for the last forty-eight hours very intensively and Miyeko finally mastered some of the kunai and shuriken techniques passed down in their clan. Of course, Kuri couldn't teach all that she knew, all that self acquired knowledge of her own powers since Miyeko didn't possess her bloodline limit. She couldn't understand the use of dark chakra and how to manipulate it like the older Nagaki sister did. Thus, Kuri limited herself to teach her the basics, which Miyeko mastered almost immediately. 

"You learn fast, Miyeko. You'll catch up to me in no time!" said Kuri before tucking her sister into bed last night.

"I want to beat you one day, Kuri. Even if it takes one hundred years. I'll prove I can beat you." She said, tired but still smiling. "One day, I will hand over the flame of my knowledge to you Miyeko. Until then, learn your way of the ninja." That night, the moon was the witness to Kuri's promise.


	2. A Deliberate Act

> Now I feel that maybe knowing who I actually am is the key to reach perfection. Because that means knowing what I can and cannot do.

Miyeko had risen up earlier that day and was already sitting at her desk at the Konoha Ninja Academy, calmly reading a book on shinobi team strategies. Her sister had given that book to her, hoping it would complete Miyeko's teamwork training. The Graduate Information Session was taking place in half an hour yet not one single soul was here from her graduate class. She sighed. She heard the door open and she saw him. Itachi Uchiha, wearing his forehead protector, stood still in front of the class, gazing at her. With a creeping blush, Miyeko quickly returned her attention to her book. She could hear his footsteps getting closer to her. This was ridiculous. Uchihas are too cool to speak to anyone or make friends for the matter. So why was he approaching her all of a sudden?

"Good morning." Was what he said to her. She rose her gaze from her book to look at him. His parents neglected to cut his hair, it seemed. His long black locks covered his face a little, held back by his new Konoha forehead protector. She looked into his onyx eyes softly and raised an eyebrow. "Funny it is that we've been at school for a year together, yet you never spoke to me." She said back to him. He looked down and smiled.

"I'm sorry. A mistake on my part. Can I sit here?" he asked, pointing at the seat next to her. She sighed. "There are literally thirty seats you can choose from, Itachi Uchiha. Why the one next to me?" she asked him. Again, he looked down and smiled.

"Because your book seems interesting and I thought I could have a peek at it when you're not looking." This surprised Miyeko. He was… brutally honest. This shocked her. She expected another type of excuse but I guess he was a no excuse kind of boy. She nodded and he calmly sat down next to her. She went back to reading but she could feel his intense gaze on her.

"Why did you talk about me to your father, Itachi?" she asked him. Her forwardness seemed to have caught him off guard, a thing she didn't expect from him. He laughed a little and very awkwardly. Miyeko couldn't believe it. Itachi Uchiha, the prodigy of this Academy, the number one student of her year and the years to come, was stumbling upon his words to answer her question. Her sister was right. He was very shy and socially maladapted. He couldn't come up with an answer. Soon, other graduates began to enter the room as Itachi's attitude reverted back to shyness. Still, the small smile on his face showed that he didn't feel uncomfortable towards her. Miyeko didn't understand boys, she decided. She was a bright girl but this was just too hard for her. As the clock hit 9'oclock, the Chunin educators gathered in front of the graduate class and all of them had checklists. Miyeko sat straight as the meeting began.

"Good morning graduates." Said Adamei-sensei. "Today, you are officially beginning your careers as shinobi of Konoha. Being a ninja to this village is very honorable but your life will bear the heavy consequences of your choice. To help you bear the burden, we will assign three-men teams today and you will then, with a Jonin sensei, begin to undertake missions for the village. Now, let's begin." Miyeko knew that, from this point on, her life was changed forever, her future unknown. She was now a Leaf Village kunoichi. "I will now announce the teams." Said Adamei-sensei.

Miyeko didn't care who she was teamed up with. All of her graduate companions have passed the exams and would do their very best during missions. What she was worried about is the progress she would make with those around her. Would she be slowing her team down? After all, she was, along with Itachi Uchiha, the youngest kid in her graduate class. Or would it be her who would carry her team through tough situations? She glanced back at the book her sister lent to her. Teamwork, she thought. Kuri was so smart. She knew Miyeko would ask herself these questions today and that is why she gave her the book. It doesn't matter about progress or success for now. Teamwork was the thing to work on. She smiled. Her sister knew her so well it scared her a little.

It took a while before Miyeko's name was mentioned. She didn't want to admit it to herself, but she was bored. "Miyeko Nagaki." Finally, she thought. "Brilliant student. I guess we could team you up with Tenma… Help him a little. He'll need it." Adamei-sensei said with a smirk. Miyeko smiled. Tenma was glaring at her from the back of the room. She found him to be a complete idiot, but nonetheless, he was nice… and scared of her. This made her smile even more, which Itachi seemed to have noticed. It took a couple of minutes and Miyeko was still waiting for the third member of her team to be announced. Adamei-sensei cleared up his throat.

"This team will be completed with Itachi Uchiha, who had the best results overall during the evaluation period. Let us pray that the two best students in this school will help Tenma achieve his goals as shinobi." Snickers Adamei-sensei while the other sensei laughed. Miyeko frowned. She hated the situation she was put in. Itachi being on her team was one of the reasons why, but she found deplorable that Tenma had to endure such treatment from high ranked ninjas.

"I don't see why this is a laughing matter." She said loudly so Adamei-sensei could catch her vibe. There was an awkward silence and Adamei-sensei cleared his throat once again. "Sorry. You are right, Miyeko. My apologies, Tenma." He said. Finally, all assigned teams were given a break to talk and have lunch before the next meeting.

Miyeko headed alone towards the forest next to the Academy where she could vent her negative emotions out. She placed her bento boxes next to a big tree trunk and sat on the ground, hands in a simple chakra seal. She closed her eyes and screened out the environment surrounding her. Sometimes, Miyeko could feel the energy around her trying to invade her body but she was able to block it with chakra control.

Her clan, after all, specialized in morphing their bodies and their energy with their surroundings' energy so they could melt in the shadows and perform the trickiest stealth missions. 

"Of course, it is very rare, even for people like me that possess our clan's bloodline limit, to be able to hone these techniques. Such chakra control… it's unthinkable. I guess I'll have to try harder!" she had said to Miyeko, laughing. All this theory had made Miyeko weary of her clan's techniques and she had decided to push back the learning and mastering of those to concentrate on what was important: graduating. Now that her goal had been achieved, these techniques intrigued Miyeko even more. Suddenly, Miyako's own energy was disrupted by another's. She frowned, keeping her hand seal firm.

"I thought I sensed your energy, Itachi." She said, opening her eyes, looking at his presence, in a near tree. He smirked.

"I didn't know you were a sensory type." He said.

"I think it's much more than that. I can feel everything around me. The energy around me is trying to break in my own energy barrier, but I won't let it." She said, releasing her hand sign. She looked at her bento boxes. She looked back at Itachi and sighed. "Looks like you don't have a lunch, Itachi." She said. He jumped down from the tree and walked towards her.

"My mother was busy taking care of my baby brother this morning and I was running a little late. It's not a big deal." He said, sitting next to her, his back against the tree trunk. "Well, my mother cooked double portions, as always. I can always share what I have with you." She said, handing half of her lunch to Itachi.

"Oh, it's fine, you don't have to- your mother made homemade dumplings?" he asked, his interest piqued. His eyes were round. Miyeko was surprised. Itachi had a sweet tooth! She smiled. In a matter of minutes, both kids had eaten every single bite of Miyeko's lunch. "Your mother is a great cook. I'll be sure to stop by and thank her later." He said. Miyeko blushed.

"She's a medical ninja. She'll probably be at the hospital healing patients, knowing her. There's no need for that." Replied Miyeko with a hint of sadness in her eyes.

"And your father?" Itachi asked. "Where is he working?" he continued.

"My father works in the Torture and Interrogation Force with Ibiki Morino. They're busy lately. Loads of spies caught by the Leaf, from the looks of it." Itachi raised a brow, surprised.

"Who takes care of you then if your parents are never there?" he asked.

"My big sister Kuri. She's ANBU and she's Konoha Shadow Dweller, but she always has time for me. My big sister is the best ninja I've ever seen. She possesses our clan's sacred bloodline limit, after all. Lord Hokage is very proud of her." She said, smiling. "What about you? You mentioned you have a little brother." She asked Itachi.

"Yes. I'm a big brother in my family. His name is Sasuke. He's… very important to me. Much like your big sister Kuri is to you. I'll do anything to protect him. That meant becoming a ninja for me." He said, but he stopped there. "Hey, you two losers! The lunch break is over! Let's get back inside." Said Tenma in the distance, waving. The rest of the day was a blur to Miyeko. Her team was, overall, an interesting mix up of kids and their sensei was an alright Jonin with good principles. That day, they had their first genin mission, which took almost two hours to complete. Miyeko never thought that mowing the lawn for an elderly could be so annoying.

As the team left the Hokage's room and were dismissed by Yuki-sensei, Miyeko noticed that Fugaku Uchiha was waiting outside, his arms crossed, obviously waiting for his son to finish his first day as Genin. Kuri wasn't there. She was probably still on a mission and her parents were too busy to catch up to her. Her eyes lowered as Itachi waved goodbye at her. He ran in the distant to join his father and they ran together back to the new Uchiha compound. Miyeko was about to walk home too when she noticed something shiny in the distance, lying on the ground. She walked towards to notice that Itachi had dropped his forehead protector on the ground. He must've put it in his pocket, she thought, and it dropped. She grabbed it and headed home. She frowned. She could always walk past the Uchiha compound and drop it at Fugaku Uchiha's place so Itachi could have it as soon as possible. She nodded and smiled.

The newly appointed Uchiha compound was built specifically to meet the Uchiha clan's needs, located next to Konoha's training fields. She could still smell the fresh paint of the high walls surrounding the compound and the flowers in the exterior gardens. She stood in front of the main gates, which bore the Uchiha crest, a red and white paper fan. As she walked inside the compound, all eyes turned to her. The flower shop lady, the baker and even the shuriken seller on the street, all of these people were looking at her like she was a stranger in a strange land. After all, it was unusual for a non-Uchiha folk to come to the clan's living quarters.

As she walked past the Uchiha Police Force Headquarters, Miyeko noticed somebody looking at her. She turned around to face a tall, dark-haired man. "What are you doing here, little girl?" he asked. Miyeko Nagaki was a kind child but seemed to take badly his tone of voice. However, she quickly calmed down when she noticed his Police Star on his shinobi vest, meaning he was part of the law enforcement force of Konoha. "Did I do something wrong, officer?" she asked.

"I'll repeat myself. What are you doing here on Uchiha grounds? I swear, if you do not answer me I'll- Chief Fugaku! What are you doing here?" he said, his tone quickly changing to a submissive one. Behind the tall man, Miyeko saw Itachi's father, Fugaku Uchiha, Chief of Police, his arms still crossed and looking not too happy.

"Officer Hendo, I think it's time for you to go home. You look overworked. You must be, for you to seem so agitated by a Genin. Go home and rest." He said, dismissing him. The man complied and disappear in a smoke cloud. Miyeko politely bowed and smiled, her long black bangs covering her face.

"Thank you, Fugaku, sir." Fugaku walked past her, turning his head. "Walk with me." He said.

Miyeko quickly caught up to him and stayed silent. She didn't know what to say after all.

"What are you doing here on the Uchiha compound, Nagaki girl?" he asked. Why did all the Uchiha ask her that? What was so infuriating about her presence in their living quarters? This would never happen in Nagaki territory, not to anyone. Why were they so on edge?

"Um, you see, I, um…" she started but couldn't finish her sentence.

"Speak clearly, child. I do not have all day waiting for your answer." He said.

"I'm looking for Itachi, actually." She blurted out. Fugaku frowned. "You're looking for my son? Are you becoming one of those idiotic fangirls running around for him to teach you shuriken techniques?" he asked. Miyeko took insult to that.

"With all due respect, sir, I don't need him to teach me anything. I perform these techniques better than he does." She said. That took Fugaku by surprised and he let out a frank laugh.

"You are a funny kid, Miyeko Nagaki. Who taught you how to use these intricate shuriken techniques? Your run of the mill medical ninja mother or your failed torture specialist father?" he asked with a hint of venom in his mouth. She stopped in her track and frowned, clenching Itachi's forehead protector in her hand.

"My genius sister, Kuri. One of Konoha's best ANBU captains and most respected kunoichi. You must've heard about her. She goes by the name Shadow Dweller." She replied dryly. Fugaku also stopped, frowning at her.

"Yes. I know who she is. So young and so talented. A real shame only one in your family inherited the Nagaki's bloodline limit, is it not? And looks to me like you weren't the lucky chosen one. So what makes you so special, Miyeko Nagaki? What about you caught my son's attention? Tell me, I'm curious because all I see is a scrawny girl with no special trait and angry eyes." He told her with a smirk. The seven-year-old girl was about inches away from letting the energy surrounding her take over her own but a hand quickly appeared on her shoulder and she stopped, turning around.

"Itachi." She said.

Itachi Uchiha had been standing behind her, his hand gently resting on her shoulder. Fugaku's eyes widen. "Itachi! I thought you were home." He said.

"I heard there was a commotion outside so I went to investigate. I'm glad to see someone else than an Uchiha on these grounds. It's refreshing, actually. Father, thank you for walking Miyeko around and show her the compound. I'll take it from here." Fugaku grumbled something under his breath and disappear in a cloud of smoke. Miyeko angrily turned around and glared at Itachi.

"You could've spared me that altercation with your father, Itachi!" she said, short of breath.

"I'm sorry about my father. He's not used to strangers on Uchiha land and… he's not used to me having friends either." He said, smiling. Miyeko couldn't find this boy stranger even if she tried. She quickly handed his forehead protector back to him. "You dropped that. You should be more careful." She said.

"Oh, I was." He said.

"What do you mean? You dropped it. You could have lost it." She answered, puzzled.

"You see, I did it on purpose. I knew you'd bring it back to me." He said. Oh, the nerve of him! Miyeko didn't know if she should have felt anger towards him or towards herself.

"Why did you want me to come here, then?" she asked.

"Because I wanted to invite you to dinner tomorrow at my house." Miyeko blushed.

"But, I- what? I thought- I thought that you- this is confusing." She managed to say, suddenly getting shy.

"My mother insisted to meet you, Miyeko. Also, my cousin Shisui will also be there. He's a fan of your sister, that he is and he's been bothering me forever to invite you over so he can ask all kinds of silly questions about her. Please, for my sake, just say yes." He said, smirking. Well, what do you know? Itachi Uchiha had a sense of humor, too.

Miyeko frowned. "Fine. I'll be there." Itachi smiled. "I guess it's settled. I'll see you tomorrow morning for team training." He said, walking back to the main road and home.

Miyeko quickly exited the Uchiha compound and sighed. That Itachi… was smarter than she expected. She rolled her eyes and walked home, where it was a bit more normal and where dumplings were waiting for her.


	3. A New and Unexpected Friendship

> It is not wise to judge others based on your own preconceptions and by their appearances.

Kuri looked at her younger sister, dumbfounded, while they sipped tea in the kitchen, waiting for their parents to come home from work. Her younger sister, Miyeko, had never been the talkative type of person. She would often talk to Kuri about school, training and simple hobbies and activities they had in common, but never did Miyeko mention any friends inviting her to dinner at their house, especially not one named Itachi Uchiha. ‘He invited you over to eat with his family for what reason exactly?’ Miyeko, not yet eight, had already acquired the taste of the finer tastes in life, especially specialty brewed teas. Her dazed was interrupted by her older sister’s question. She put the teacup down on the table and sighed.

‘I’m not exactly sure… They probably just want to meet their son’s new teammate is all.’

Miyeko had come home a couple of hours ago, seemingly puzzled. Kuri had often taken the parenting role in the house as her parents were hard workers and often did not come home until bedtime. She had grown to like that role because it made her grow closer to her sister and their relationship was now stronger because of it. Often she would find Miyeko alone in her room, reading or outside, out in the yard, practicing her shuriken and kunai throws. She often came back from her ANBU missions finding Miyeko cooking for herself or sleeping alone in the house.

Kuri wouldn’t say that their parents were neglectful of her little sister, but she came to the conclusion that they often would forget that behind her mature, poised demeanor, Miyeko was still a child. Kori would often ask to return home early from her missions when she noticed that her mother was asked to do overtime at the hospital or when her father was overworked with enemy raids on the village. In truth, Kuri never minded taking care of Miyeko. She would rather do that than her physically and mentally grueling ANBU missions. She thought of Miyeko’s presence to be rather soothing actually. Kuri took a sip out of her teacup and closed her eyes. She was tired and worn out.

Kuri often had night terrors and would live in dreams of some of her missions as vividly as the day it happened. The things they sometimes made her do to protect her village… The thought of it made shivers run down her spine. She would wake up alone at night, profusely sweating, panting, on the verge of tears and distress. ANBU shinobi would be sworn to secrecy when they started working for the Village’s secret faction. All this horror, she would have to keep that inside and it would haunt her until she would hear footsteps outside her door, at night. She would often find Miyeko, her green eyes wide open in the darkness, looking straight at her from her bedroom door.

Kuri knew her sister felt her pain but she was unaware of what extent Miyeko knew of just how much life was miserable for her. The younger Nagaki girl would then crawl up to her older sister’s bed and would run her fingers through her hair until Kuri fell asleep once again. Sometimes, Kuri wondered exactly how Miyeko knew of her nightmares. She knew Miyeko was a sensory type shinobi, but even sensory types had limits. They could sense chakra, but Miyeko seemed to be able to sense much more than just her energy. Sometimes, it felt like she could sense her soul. Their sister bond is stronger than most would think, she thought.

‘I bought some special tea from the Village Hidden in the Mist on my last mission. I want you to have it so you can bring it to the Uchiha compound. You should go change, it’s almost time for you to leave, Miyeko.’

Minutes later, her younger sister came down the stairs of the family house wearing a simple cotton kimono with the Nagaki crest on the back, her hair tied up in a neat updo. She handed the tea parcel to the younger Nagaki and walked her to the door.

‘Have a nice time with your new friend and his family, Miyeko. I’ll be here when you get back.’ she said, hugging the smaller girl in a tight embrace.

She could feel Miyeko’s smile through the fabric of her shirt on her collarbone. The young girl then left and Kuri looked at her walk to the other end of the Village, leaning on the door frame with a small, genuine smile on her face. Miyeko waved at her in the distance with a warm smile on her face. Her sister's happiness was worth the pain of being a shinobi, Kuri thought.

The sun was setting as Miyeko walked the long distance between her house and the entrance of the Uchiha compound. The warm sunset lit her surroundings with a soft, orange hue. She hurried through the busy streets of Konoha, passing by merchants, stores, coffee shops, and offices where she finally found the small road leading to the remote Uchiha compound, a small sector of the village where more often than not, would be forgotten by the rest of the villagers. She often wondered why the compound looked so highly secured with its high walls and separate roads and markets, giving to outsiders from the Uchiha clan a feeling of uneasiness, making visitors feel unwelcomed.

She finally reached the gates of the compound and was swiftly let through by one of the Uchiha guards when she mentioned the name of Fugaku Uchiha, the head of the Uchiha clan. It didn’t take her very long to feel the prying eyes of some of the clan members when she walked past the Konoha Police Force. She kept her head down but suddenly realized she hadn’t asked Itachi for his address. She stopped and spotted a small lady, a shopkeeper who was closing her store and walked towards her.

‘Excuse me, I was wondering if you could tell me where I could find Fugaku Uchiha’s house?’ The small Uchiha lady turned around and frowned.

‘Who is sending you?’ she asked. Miyeko awkwardly smiled.

‘He invited me over. Well, his son did, anyway…’ she said, a loud sigh in her voice. The Uchiha woman gasped and smiled warmly. She grabbed the young girl’s hands and her voice gave happily squeal.

‘Oh, you must be our Itachi’s new teammate! Of course, Mikoto talked about your visit today!’ Miyeko blinked. News did travel fast around here, it seemed. ‘Their house is over the hill, down the main street. It’s the biggest house on the compound, you can’t miss it!’ After a small, uncomfortable smile, Miyeko hurried to the visibly biggest house in the area and by the time she got to the door, she was officially weirded out. The Uchiha clan was, without a doubt, strange, she thought. Before she could knock on the door, it swung right open, taking her by surprise to reveal a very tall teenager with unruly dark hair.

‘Don’t normal people usually let the person knock before opening?’ asked Miyeko, obviously getting even more creeped out by the minute. The young teen grinned and he knelt to her height.

‘_So he wasn’t lying!_ He actually talked to someone, a girl no less. I’m impressed. I thought that little shit didn’t have it in him.’ he said, laughing. A strong hand suddenly appeared on the teen’s shoulder and he visibly shuddered.

‘Shisui, language.’ said Fugaku, breaking the awkward conversation.

‘Yes uncle.’ he said, hurrying back in the house.

‘So, you did find your way here.' Fugaku said, looking down on a very confused, highly puzzled Miyeko.

‘It wasn’t without its fair share of detours.’ she said bluntly and awkwardly, making the scowl on Fugaku’s face disappear. He cracked up a rare smirk and invited her inside. Miyeko secretly followed him to the main sitting area, where she finally saw a beautiful woman with long black tresses and a warm smile. The second she saw Miyeko walk into the living room, she gasped and ran to her, embracing the young girl into a tight embrace, making the Nagaki girl even more visibly uncomfortable as she let go of her.

‘I’m so glad you decided to join us! I can’t believe this is happening Fugaku, Itachi has a friend! I’m so happy! Oh, my name is Mikoto, I’m Itachi’s mother. It’s so nice to finally meet you.’ she said. If this couldn’t get any more awkward, Miyeko saw the teen she met seconds ago, Shisui, sitting on the couch, smiling.

‘Yeah, I’m glad she’s here too, her sister’s **hot**!’ There was a silence where even Fugaku was embarrassed by what was happening.

‘Shisui, how many times do we have to tell you to _not say things like that!_’ he said, his voice jumping tones. Mikoto nervously laughed and added that Shusui was their nephew and that he was very happy Miyeko came for dinner. She heard footsteps behind her and she turned around to see Itachi. Miyeko smiled shyly to him and he returned the favor in the slightest way possible.

‘Well, shall we eat? You guys must be starving!’ said Mikoto, overexcited, running to the kitchen while Fugaku and Shisui walked behind her, leaving the two of them alone, where Miyeko’s facade soon fell apart.

‘Is your family always like that?’ she asked her eyes in disbelief.

‘If by ‘like that’ you mean weird, then yes, I’m afraid.’ he said, quietly chuckling, rubbing the back of his head.

‘They’re not used to… outsiders. It’s been a while since we had someone from another clan in the house… and on the compound too. Also… they’re not used to me having friends, I think.’ he said, his onyx eyes staring right into her green ones.

‘Maybe we should head in the kitchen, to see if your mother needs help.’ Miyeko said, her cheeks flushing slightly at the young Uchiha’s intense gaze on her.

The evening was surprisingly pleasant, to Miyeko’s delight. Mikoto, Itachi’s mother, was very warm and talkative and seemed very interested in the Nagaki clan’s history.

‘I never knew that the Nagaki clan and the Nara clan were related! That is so interesting! Both users of the shadow techniques, right?’ she asked. Miyeko was very comfortable talking about her clan and Mikoto knew it would put the young Nagaki at ease. Itachi was also listening attentively while Fugaku and Shisui ate their meal.

‘Yes, the Nara clan and the Nagaki clan have come from the same ancient clan but their common interests dwindled and became points of contention during the Warring State era. The Nara clan kept the knowledge and the heritage of some of the techniques and developed their skills in medicine while my clan, the Nagaki clan, pushed for the excellence of the techniques of the Yin release, Genjutsu, and stealth. The difference now is that my clan, unlike the Nara clan, is bound to disappear, with only a few members left. Only my sister and I are left to continue the Nagaki lineage.’ she said, taking another bite from her plate.

‘What did you mean when you say the Nara and the Nagaki clans common interests dwindled? They had a falling out?’ asked Shisui. Miyeko sighed.

‘Well, from what I read from the village archives, during the Warring State era, the Nara clan decided to follow the Senju clan while the Nagaki clan found a common interest with… well, with the Uchiha clan, actually.’ she said. Fugaku gave the young girl a sharp look.

‘Quite the little historian, aren’t you?’ said Fugaku, seemingly interested in Miyeko’s reading hobby. ‘They knew which clan was best to follow after all!’ he exclaimed, earning a nudge on the arm from Mikoto, giving him a visual warning to stop talking. Strange, Miyeko thought. What a strange thing to say considering the Uchiha had been one of the founding clans of Konoha. She smiled back at him nonetheless, one of the smiles you rarely saw on Miyeko’s face.

'People that don’t learn from their history tend to make the same mistakes over and over again.’ she said. Fugaku shrugged smugly and continued eating while Miyeko’s attention turned to Itachi, who had completely stopped eating, fascinated with her tale, his onyx eyes once again fixated on her. The silence around the table made Miyeko believe she had said something wrong, looking from the frown on Shisui and Mikoto’s faces, Fugaku ignoring her presence.

‘That was… really interesting. I’d like to know more about your clan.’ said Itachi, the faintest smile on his face. He was staring right into her green eyes with such intensity that it made Miyeko blush and shyly look away. This intense moment was duly noted by Fugaku and Mikoto, who seemed intrigued that their son was showing any interest at all in even conversing at dinner, which he never did.

After the awkward dinner followed an even more unfortunate set of conversations during dessert and tea. Shisui seemed even more curious about Kura than Itachi led on.

‘So, Miyeko, you must know why your older sister has the hair of an old hag. Why is her hair white?’ The question seemed highly inappropriate to Miyeko, considering it had to do with someone Kuri was born with and out of her control. The nerve of that Shisui! How dare he ask such personal questions! Mikoto glared at the young teen and Shisui laughed.

‘What? I only want to know why she looks like a ghost! She terrifies everyone in the ANBU! I mean don’t get me wrong, I like freaky girls, but you have to admit she’s unusual looking!’ Miyeko put her teacup on the table so dryly that it caught everyone’s attention around the table. Itachi couldn’t look more uncomfortable and Mikoto was horrified. Fugaku was the only one that seems interested in the upcoming altercation between the young and already famous Shisui of the Body Flicker and a seven-year-old child.

‘**Listen to me**. One more word from you about my sister and I’ll go get her myself. She’ll show you why she’s known as the Shadow Dweller. You can ask her in person why her hair is white. I doubt she’ll let you live long enough for you to get your answer.’ said Miyeko, her fists clenched on the table. The silence was so heavy that even Fugaku had put on a serious face, glaring at the young Uchiha teen. Shisui seemed surprised by the sudden burst of seriousness coming from the small girl sitting across from him. He smiled.

‘Hey, no biggie sis’! Relax! I just wanted to know more about your sister before she falls madly in love with me!’ he said, wearing a growing grin on his face, his white teeth showing. ‘Well, dinner was lovely Aunty! Thanks for inviting me. I have to run! Yamanaka’s Flower Shop will be closing soon and I have to get flowers for a lovely someone! Laters!’ he said, running out the door like a storm, leaving the rest of the party puzzled.

‘That Shisui… what a spectacle.’ Fugaku said, closing his eyes, rubbing his temples.

‘He _is_ your nephew.’ replied Mikoto, clearing up the dishes.

‘Well, I have to get back to work tonight, Mikoto. Take care of the kids while I’m gone. You should come over again, girl. Itachi, help your mother take care of Sasuke when he wakes up from his nap. I don’t know when I’ll be back. Don’t wait for me.’ The tall Uchiha man said, disappearing in a cloud of smoke. That was as much as Fugaku Uchiha was willing to say to compliment Miyeko.

‘Itachi, can you get Sasuke? It’s time for his snack.’ Mikoto said, earning an audible sigh before going upstairs. Mikoto sighed.

‘Oh, my dear Miyeko. I’m so sorry about the fuss that happened tonight. You must think we’re crazy or something.’ Miyeko frowned. Miyeko suddenly felt bad for Mikoto Uchiha, the matriarch of the Uchiha clan. She realized that even though she was a member of this selective, secretive, segregated clan, the woman standing before her was still, after all, a woman, a mother. A seemingly worried mother.

‘Not crazy. _Different_, maybe.’ she said, wearing a little smile on her delicate face. Mikoto laughed.

‘Thank you for making him smile. Itachi, I mean. Being my eldest, I should know him better than Sasuke, but in truth, he just won’t let us in all that much. I know more about his little brother Sasuke and he can’t even talk… He has trouble making friends… Or maybe I’m just a bad parent... Being the heir to the Clan’s Chief, there’s so much pressure on his shoulders already… In any case, today proved that Itachi is not antisocial, he’s apparently just very selective of the company he chooses for himself. Please, as a favor to me, don’t let him go.’ she asked, her voice trembling. Miyeko was taken aback by the sudden emotion she felt throughout her body. She could almost feel Mikoto’s pain telepathically.

‘Don’t worry. I’ll keep an eye out for him.’ said Miyeko, sipping on her remaining tea. Mikoto’s smile could light up the entire room. He signed, letting her sadness being washed away with joy.

Miyeko heard footsteps behind her and turned around to see Itachi holding a tiny but feisty bundle in his arms. The youngster, barely three years old, had pitch-black hair and the same onyx eyes as Itachi. His eyes met hers.

‘Oh Sasuke, did you have a good nap?’ asked Mikoto, turning around to pick him up from Itachi’s grasp. Sasuke was evidently upset about something, teary and thrashing about. Even Itachi apparently used to handling him, seemed uncomfortable holding him. Mikoto looked at her youngest, worried.

‘What’s wrong, Sasuke?’ she asked him. Sasuke couldn’t answer. He simply started crying, in evident pain.

‘Oh poor thing, your tummy must be upset.’ she said, rocking Sasuke in her arms while Itachi and Miyeko looked, not really knowing what to do. Miyeko had an idea.

‘Can I see Sasuke for a moment?’ she asked. She rose up from her tatami cushion and walked to Mikoto and Sasuke. She raised a hand and gently placed it on Sasuke’s stomach, a small aura of blue chakra emanating from her small hand.

‘What are you doing?’ asked Itachi, on the defensive. Miyeko smiled and saw Sasuke’s features starting to relax slowly. He soon stopped crying and smiled, giggling. Mikoto gasped.

‘Where did you learn medical ninjutsu, Miyeko?’ she asked, shocked.

‘My mother works at the village’s hospital. I learned from watching her. I don’t know much, but I got the basics down. I practice when I injure myself during training.’ she said, running a hand through little Sasuke’s jet black hair. He chirped, smiling at Miyeko.

‘Well, isn’t that a neat thing to know! Aren’t you the talented kunoichi…’ said Mikoto. Itachi was silent, his mouth slightly agape. Sasuke suddenly reached for Miyeko’s hair and yanked it so hard she winced. That little rascal! He screamed in laughter. This was definitely her cue.

‘Well, I guess I should be heading home. We have training tomorrow, Itachi. Thank you for the good food and interesting company, Mikoto.’ she said, bowing to the lady Uchiha, who had invited her into her home, at her table.

‘Please feel free to come back whenever you want!’ she said, rocking Sasuke in her arms while he ate a cracker. ‘I’ll walk with you to the gate, Miyeko.’ said Itachi.

They were silent the entire walk to the Uchiha compound’s gate. And it wasn’t just a normal silence. It was heavy and uncomfortable, even for Itachi, who was usually always very silent. Miyeko knew he was upset about something. She might know why. They stopped in front of the gates. The guards had left their posts for the night. They were completely alone. It was then that Itachi looked at her, his angry eyes staring at her green ones.

‘I know what you did to my brother.’ he said, his tone of voice had changed completely. It was almost menacing.

‘I healed his colic.’ she said, obviously hiding the fact that they both knew it wasn’t the only thing she did to Sasuke. Miyeko then realized that she could never hide something, anything, from Itachi Uchiha, like she could to the rest of the world. It’s almost as if he could see through her.

‘That’s not all that you did.’ he asked, a tone of interrogation in his voice. Miyeko frowned and sighed again. She had been unmasked.

‘No, that’s not all that I did..’ she admitted.

Itachi now seemed angry, his fists trembling. ‘You manipulated his emotions! I saw it! How did you do that?’ he asked, grabbing her arm with force. She quickly pushed him away and took a step back.

‘I don’t know how I do it, but I just can! I’ve always been able to do it since I can remember. I told you I can sense energy all around me, that’s no surprise to you. I just reverse it sometimes.’ she said, trying to remain calm. Itachi seemed even angrier than before.

‘Tell me why! Is that what you do, manipulate people into different emotions, different states of mind? Is that what you did to me?’ he asked. For a seven-year-old, Itachi could be quite scary.

‘I’ve _never_ done it to you!’ she said, pausing. ‘I learned to do it to make my sister stop having nightmares at night.’ she said, her voice growing quieter, tears in her eyes. ‘She wouldn’t be able to sleep if I didn’t do anything…’ she said, her whole body trembling. Itachi suddenly relaxed.

‘So you didn’t hurt my brother?’ he asked, a final time. Miyeko frowned, upset.

‘I didn’t hurt your brother, Itachi. You saw him laugh. I just didn’t want him upset. Yes, I healed him. Your mother had other things on her mind, I doubt Sasuke’s crying would have made it better for her.’ she said, turning her back to him, trying to make the sting of tears in her eyes disappear.

She didn’t want him to see her cry, Itachi thought. He suddenly felt horrible, like he had made a terrible mistake. She was so mysterious to him. He had a hard time reading her, unlike everyone else around him, who seemed so simple to understand. He relaxed, walked towards her, and to her surprise, he grabbed her hand and placed his other hand on top of hers. The sudden break of physical barrier stunned Miyeko. She turned around, blushing.

‘I’m sorry.’ was all he said. ‘Thanks for taking care of Sasuke.’

She took a moment to process what happened but managed a small smile on the corner of her mouth.

‘Thanks for overreacting, doofus.’ she said. ‘Now, if you kindly would let go of my hand, I need to get home. I’ll see you tomorrow.’ she said, disappearing into the night, leaving Itachi alone, on the main road of the compound, in a daze.

The truth of the matter is, Itachi wanted to hug her. He wanted to take her in his tiny arms but thought that it would not have been what she needed. It was in fact what he needed from her. He never needed or wanted it from anyone before. It felt so bizarre to him. Why was it that for the first time in his life, he wanted to let someone in?

Is that what it felt like… to have a friend? To feel close to someone? All these questions left him dumbfounded. But it made him feel warm inside. He managed a smile.

Maybe he should drop his forehead protector more often around her. 

When Miyeko finally made it home, Kuri was sitting on the porch, waiting for her. Without hesitation, Miyeko ran to her and hugged her older sister, something she rarely did, which took Kuri by surprise.

‘Are you ok? What happened?’ she asked, seemingly worried. She found her younger sister’s gaze. ‘It’s ok.’ the younger Nagaki managed to say, sitting next to her older sister, leaning her head on her shoulder.

‘Kuri, thanks for being normal.’ she said. Both of them soon started to giggle.

‘Was it that bad?’ asked Kuri in between small giggles.

‘Worse than bad.’ said Miyeko, shaking her head in disbelief.

‘Are you planning to go back there anytime soon?’ she asked. Miyeko’s thoughts drifted to the last moment she spent with the young Uchiha boy she has started talking to only a few days ago.

‘Definitely.’ she said, nodding. Miyeko then frowned, noticing the floral arrangement sitting next to her sister. A beautiful mix of wildflowers. She giggled again.

‘Those are from Shisui Uchiha, aren’t they?’ she asked. She could feel Kuri rolling her eyes, but wearing a smile on her face nonetheless. A distinctive smile, the kind of smile Miyeko had never seen on her sister’s face and a faint trace of blushing. Miyeko couldn’t believe it. Her big sister was blushing!

‘Yes. Yes, they are.’ Was all she said before the both of them giggled into the night.


	4. The Day That Would Change Everything

> Those who turn their hands against their comrades are sure to die a terrible death. Be prepared.

The following weeks have been grueling for Miyeko, as she learned how difficult it could be to be part of a three-man shinobi team. Working with Itachi was pleasant enough, they enjoyed conversing with one another. Dealing with Tenma, on the other hand, was another story. Tenma had been a kid that had failed to pass the Academy Graduating exam twice before and was older than both Itachi and Miyeko, making their relationship and cooperation even more difficult. During their numerous D rank missions, Tenma had been complaining, slacking off, and mainly taken a liking into teasing Itachi about the way the young Uchiha spoke, talked, or even wore his hair. Miyeko had always been a patient child, waiting for the right moment to speak in all situations. But it irritated her how Itachi would just smile through all of this ordeal like nothing ever happened.

For once, Miyeko would have liked to see Itachi defend himself. But she knew deep down that Itachi was a pacifist and that acting on anger wouldn’t solve anything. 

Every day for the several following weeks, Miyeko, Itachi, and Tenma were worked very hard every day, on physically strenuous missions. Of course, painting fences, finding cats, and pulling weeds was never her idea for ninja missions, but she knew they were put in place for them for a specific reason: teamwork. They were asked to pull heavy carts, carry old ladies to their houses on their backs and even, to Miyeko’s utmost displeasure, _babysit_.

The more she accomplished those missions, the more she decided that babies were a nuisance and overall, a complete drag. Itachi was very good with children, having a younger brother of his own. Tenma usually didn’t care much for his assignments, so Miyeko had to pick up his slack while Itachi was getting mostly all the praise from their Jonin sensei. _Jerks._

Even though she was now almost always with Tenma and Itachi, Miyeko had never felt so alone. This was due, in part, because she didn’t see or talk to her sister as much anymore. Kuri had once again doubled her missions with the ANBU and her parents were still working all the time, leaving Miyeko alone in the morning and at night, tired and sad. She envied Itachi sometimes, having parents at home and a younger sibling who looked up to him.

The only moments she could have where her solitude didn’t bother her was when she was practicing taijutsu in the forest, behind her house. Every day, after her missions, she would wave goodbye to Itachi and Tenma and walk home, by herself. Sometimes, Itachi would walk with her in silence until they went on their separate ways. She would then cook her meals and have tea. She would then go in the forest and practice until her hands were raw and swollen. She would then heal herself and go to bed. Was this the shinobi life she chose? 

Without noticing, she had punched the tree she was hitting on right through its trunk, making it fall on the ground with a loud crashing noise. Where was all this anger coming from? She couldn’t help but ask herself why her life was making her miserable. Maybe if she kept punching the tree her anger would go away, she thought. 

‘It's dead already, leave it alone.’ said a voice behind her. She turned around and saw none other than Itachi Uchiha. His hand was resting on his hip, his long black hair blowing in the wind. Itachi had been, in truth, her only solace since becoming a Genin. Miyeko straightened her outfit and hair and walked towards him with a frown on her face. 

‘What are you doing here?’ she asked, obviously annoyed that Itachi found her in such a state of anger and confusion. She noticed Itachi has something in his hand. A popsicle. A blue one, her favorite.

‘I figured after pulling out weeds for the _fifty-ninth time_ this week, we could use one of these.’ he said, opening the popsicle package and cracking the cold sweet in two.

_ That Itachi _... Not only did he have an exceptional sense of humor for his age, but mostly, he knew exactly what she needed at that moment. She smiled and snatched it from his hand as they both sat on a log, side by side. They were used to the silence between the two of them. That velvety silence had become so comfortable for both of them. Even though they were silent, Itachi and Miyeko had started to learn how to vocalize, to talk to one another without speaking. The way they inhaled, the way they blinked, the fidgeting of their hands, the way they leaned on the wall… were all ways of communicating with one another. If that isn’t true teamwork, I don’t know what it, thought Miyeko, taking a bite out her of popsicle. 

‘I haven't seen your sister around lately. Where is she?’ he asked nonchalantly. Miyeko sighed. 

‘If she’s not on missions, then she is most certainly with-’

‘Shisui.’ He said. They both smiled and dare I say, almost giggled.

Yes, it was true. Kuri Nagaki, Konoha’s Shadow Dweller, the hardass ANBU captain, had seemingly fallen for the loud, bratty and some might say charming Shisui Uchiha.

Ever since he had brought her wildflowers on that night, Kuri had taken a liking to the Uchiha teen. It had become almost a running gag between Miyeko and Itachi. Who knew that such different people could actually like one another? Miyeko’s mother always said that opposites attract, like a set of magnets and that’s how she had met and fallen in love with her father. Miyeko just didn't think this would apply to her genius sister and Shisui Uchiha.

‘Well, they seem happy. That’s what counts.’ said Miyeko, giving Itachi a small look from the corner of her eye. She noticed how he had grown in the last couple of months. He was now taller than her by a couple of inches and his hair had grown longer. 

‘Are _you _happy?’ he asked. That question took her by surprise, so much so that she dropped her popsicle on the ground.

‘Why are you asking questions like that?’ she asked him, almost offended. Itachi Uchiha had always been a perceptive child, always trying to decipher her emotions, her state of mind. If someone were to judge them by age, they would have been way older than eight. Their relationship was not normal. Her sister even had agreed to that. Ever since Itachi Uchiha had mistakenly or not stumbled into her younger sister’s life, the younger Nagaki had changed. It was as if she was more aware of her surroundings, of what she was saying, of her emotions, almost as if she wanted to match Itachi's. They were definitely an odd duo.

‘Because… you’re my frien- **teammate**. I have to take care of your wellbeing so we can work together at our best in missions.’ he said. Miyeko seemed offended by his last statement. 

‘Am I just a teammate to you, Itachi? Is that why you continuously invite me over for dinner, sometimes walk me home, ask me if I’m happy when I just punched a tree to its demise in the middle of the forest because I had nothing else better to do until someone came home? _ Right_.’ she asked.

_Sometimes, her bluntness scares me_, Itachi thought. 

‘I was simply asking out of politeness. I noticed that you are often alone when you’re not with me or Tenma, or my family, that is. I was wondering if everything was alright.’ he said, trying to diffuse the tension. Miyeko was still wearing her famous frown.

‘Yes, Itachi. Everything is just fine.’ she said passively, trying to evade the question, her gaze trying to escape his.

She was visibly upset. The eight-year-old boy didn’t really know how to process her emotions so he did what he usually did with Sasuke when he was pouting. He moved his hand towards her and handed her his piece of the popsicle. A small but growing smile appeared on her face. She snatched it and took a bite out of it, nudging his arm a little. They stayed a moment like this, sitting on the log until Miyeko’s thoughts calmed down. Itachi enjoyed this moment with her. 

To be frank, as much as Miyeko wanted someone home to keep her company at night, Itachi would rather have more solitude and silence back home, but that seemed impossible. If it wasn’t Sasuke crying or wanting to play with him or his mother asking him to do more chores, it was his father pressuring him to do better, to make the clan proud.

On some days, he felt he was being crushed under the weight of all these expectations.

But he didn’t feel that when he was with Miyeko.

Their ease with one another had grown to be exactly what he was looking for when he had a bad day. The sun was setting but neither was ready to go home. Deep in thought, Itachi hadn’t noticed that Miyeko had sat closer next to him. His eyes had closed and he was enjoying the silence when, unexpectedly, Miyeko laid her head on his shoulder. Itachi couldn’t help but blush. She had been so careful about them being too close ever since her first visit to the compound. His heart immediately started beating fast and he didn’t know why. He hoped the blush on his face would soon dissipate before she realized what was going on. 

‘Calm down, Itachi. I’m not going to bite you. I just need to rest my eyes for a moment.’ she said, picking up on his nervousness. There goes his attempt at being discrete. 

Itachi Uchiha, the young prodigal child of the Uchiha clan, realized what was wrong with him at that very second. What bothered him wasn’t the fact that Miyeko was almost falling asleep on his shoulder without a care in the world but the fact that he was _ willing _ to let her. That deeply troubled him for a moment.

He, Itachi Uchiha, so averse to any physical contact with almost anyone but his brother, would let her, someone he only knew for a second it seemed, get so close to his heart, so close to cracking the shell he built for himself. It was the slow pace of her breathing that brought him back to reality. It was now dark and Itachi didn’t know how much time they’ve spent outside together, but Miyeko wasn’t waking up. He sighed. He admitted to himself he didn’t care that she had a way with him. He didn’t care that he was too young to feel what he felt. He would take care of her like she was… well, whatever she was to him. He couldn’t put it into words just yet. He was too young.

But he knew it anyway.

The young Uchiha grabbed Miyeko and held her in his arms and walked towards her house. She was still sleeping when he walked up the three steps of her front porch and went inside the Nagaki home, putting her on the couch, where he placed a pillow under her head and a blanket over her small body. She was smiling, he noticed. He knew he shouldn’t be doing this, but he decided to go explore her home. He had always been a curious child and he knew he was pushing his luck, but he had the insuppressible urge to find out more about her. 

Itachi walked up the stairs leading to Miyeko’s bedroom and opened the door to the first room on the left on the upper floor of the small house. The door creaked a little and he was afraid that it would wake Miyeko from upstairs. Thankfully, she was out cold, like a rock. He sighed with relief. He stepped into a small but quaint bedroom. Her ninja weapons and tools were neatly placed on her study table where he found several drawings she had made, hanging on the wall. 

He continued his tour of her room by looking at the books on her small bookshelf and found the book she was reading when they first started talking, on the day after the graduation ceremony. Everything seemed normal until he noticed something under her pillow, on her bed. Something was poking out from under it and he grabbed the small frame from her bed. His eyes suddenly widen. His chest was beating faster, just like a while ago, in the forest.

The picture inside the frame that was on her bed, under her pillow, in an intimate place where she slept, was a picture of her Genin team. Itachi couldn’t believe it. He looked closer to see her, Tenma and Itachi on the picture. He could feel his cheeks flushing again. She kept a picture of _him _close to her when she slept! He couldn’t get that realization out of his mind. It made him… happy wasn’t the right word. Itachi was experiencing the first complexities of adult emotions and his eight-year-old self didn’t know how to react. He had trouble pinpointing what he felt. He concluded it was an odd mixture between relief and something resembling anticipation. That shook him to the core.

Relief? Anticipation? About what? What did all of this mean? Also, what was this feeling of pleasant anxiety in his stomach? Whatever it was, it puzzled him deeply.

He replaced the picture frame under her pillow and went back downstairs to find her groggily waking up, rubbing her eyes.

‘You’re awake.’ he stated, walking towards her. 

‘Itachi, is that you? Are you still here?’ she asked. He smiled shyly.

‘I’m still here.’ he said, sitting next to her. She looked at him with half-closed eyes and bed hair, which seemed almost comical to him considering Miyeko was very orderly about her appearance in general, not a hair out of place.

‘Itachi, I was just thinking… Please don’t cut your hair.’ This took him by surprise.

‘Cu-cut my hair? What do you mean?’ he asked, confused.

‘Tenma teases you a lot about your long hair. But please, don’t cut it. I like it long. It's pretty.’ she said, smiling groggily. Itachi blinked. Did she like him with long hair? He grabbed one of his locks, inspecting it. He never really thought about his hair, to be quite honest. The only reason why he didn’t cut it before was that he didn’t really have time for that. Miyeko was so tired that she fell back asleep almost immediately, leaving Itachi wide awake next to her, his heart pounding at the thought of her complimenting him. 

It wasn’t long before he heard voices outside. He was about to get up from the couch when he heard Shisui’s voice outside the main door of the house. He then heard the voice of a woman and distinct high pitched giggles. Through the living room window, Itachi saw Shisui pull Kuri in a tight embrace and then blushed because he believed he saw just a tad too much when they kissed. Kuri entered the house and noticed Itachi next to her sleeping sister and raised her eyebrows. ‘Hello there.’ she said, a note of shyness in her voice. Itachi instructed her to keep quiet by putting a finger to his mouth and she nodded, approaching slowly. 

‘Shisui is outside, Itachi. You can walk with him back to the compound. Be safe.’ she whispered, grabbing her younger sister in her arms, heading for the stairs leading to the young Nagaki’s bedroom. Itachi sighed and walked to the door to find Shisui leaning on the main entrance door frame with a silly grin on his face. ‘Come Itachi, it’s time to head back.’ he said. They closed the door and when on their way. The walk back to the compound was silent until Shisui nudged Itachi on the arm, earning a frown from the younger Uchiha boy. 

‘I told you she’d fall for me.’ he said, grinning, to Itachi’s annoyance. 

‘She's not dumb. She probably figured out that she liked dating you more than to be stalked by you.’ he said. Shisui shrugged but laughed at the younger Uchiha’s jest. 

‘Itachi, I think I want to spend the rest of my life with this girl.’ he said. Itachi frowned in disbelief.

‘You know, ‘the rest of your life’ could be very long.. Or very short, depending on what you choose to say to her.’ he said, earning another nudge from the older Uchiha.

‘_I'm not joking! _ I turned sixteen today, Itachi. I must have a plan for what I want to do for the rest of my life! And that plan _ definitely _includes her. I can’t see my future without her.’ Shisui didn’t notice that Itachi was shocked by what he was telling him. They were like brothers after all. It was normal for Shisui to talk about things like that to him. He seemed so happy, so carefree, so alive, thought Itachi. I guess it couldn’t be that bad, he concluded. Shisui noticed the long silence Itachi was giving him. He lowered himself to the height of the younger Uchiha and smiled devilishly. 

‘So. You like the younger Nagaki girl, don’t you?’ he asked. Itachi’s blush was so ardent that it was almost lighting the way to the compound in the night. ‘What are you talking about?’ he said, offended.

‘You can’t just say things like that!’ he added, crossing his arms. Shisui laughed. 

‘Oh Itachi. You’re young, but you’re not stupid. You care for the Nagaki girl.’ he said. Itachi rebuked.

‘No I don’t.’ he replied coolly, but he couldn’t hide it from his older cousin. 

‘How long did you watch her sleep? Sitting next to her, examining her face? Come on, you little creep. We both know you can’t fool me, I know you well enough to know that this little Nagaki girl did a number on you.’ he said. Itachi grabbed his arm and they both stopped walking. Itachi’s angry eyes met his cousin’s.

‘_She has a name_. Her name is Miyeko. Make an effort to remember it.’ he said, his frown growing deeper. Shisui pushed his younger cousin’s hand away and smiled. ‘I’m sorry. Miyeko. You’re right.’ Shisui gave Itachi a nonverbal apology and Itachi gave him a look back, accepting it. They resumed their walk to the compound. Shisui was in too good of a mood to let it go.

‘See? You do care. Stop acting tough, Itachi. Trust me. With the ones you love, your tough exterior doesn’t mean shit because they’ll see right through you. We don’t live for long as ninjas, Itachi. Cherish these moments of your life.’ he said, putting a hand on Itachi’s shoulder. Shisui went home right before Itachi reached his house. He went to bed that night thinking her Miyeko and her groggy stare and bed head hair. He didn’t just like Miyeko, he concluded. He cared for her. 

The next few days were the same as always. Missions, eating, sleeping. The routing was irritating her, but Miyeko had noticed how physically more durable she had become since she graduated. Her arms were stronger, her legs could withstand more effort and her mind was growing even sharper than it already was. That day, she walked to the Hokage tower to get their first real mission, as Tenma called it. Enough of these ridiculous missions of plucking weeds and laying down crushed stones and rebuilding roads. Miyeko’s team was finally assigned a C rank mission, which was a special escort mission. Their goal was to escort the Fire Daimyo and his twelve guards back to his castle, deeper in the Land of Fire. Miyeko couldn’t be happier. She threw her gardening gloves away and Itachi swears he almost saw a wide smile on her face. 

‘Yes! Finally, something worth my time!’ screamed Tenma. The three Genin were quickly introduced to the Fire Daimyo. Miyeko, upon close inspection, judged the man to be indecisive, easily swayed in his opinions, and somehow a little deformed. 

‘Sensei, I have a question!’ asked Tenma. ‘Why is it that we’re escorting _guards _on this mission?’ he asked with a cheek on his tongue. Legitimate question, Miyeko thought. 

‘It’s because these guards have been trained for years in various special Fire Land techniques and it would take a very long amount of time to retrain new ones if they die.’ said their Sensei. Itachi had stayed silent while the expedition was preparing to leave. He seemed to be in deep thoughts and Miyeko didn’t want to press the matter during the mission. 

The group left early the next morning and Miyeko’s team enthusiasm soon deflated into downright disappointment and boredom as their mission was to simply _ walk _beside the carriage that was pulling the Daimyo.

‘This is so _lame _!’ exclaimed Tenma. ‘And here I thought we would finally get some action!’ he whined. She didn’t say anything, but she thought the same. One of the Daimyo’s guards looked at her and laughed.

‘Are we actually supposed to get protection from you three? My_ grandmother_ would have a better chance at defending us from villains!’ he said, clearly mocking the fact two of the three members of Miyeko’s team were under the age of ten. Itachi frowned and Miyeko smiled and turned to the older shinobi.

‘I don’t know what’s worse: the fact that you’re being escorted by kids or the fact that you’re actually _paying _to get escorted by kids.’ she said to him.

Tenma couldn’t contain his laughter any longer and laughed to tears and Itachi blushed in embarrassment. The Fire Daimyo guard shrugged, looked away and crossed his arms, letting Miyeko savor this small but sweet victory. She looked at the two boys walking next to her. Tenma wiped the tears off his face, still cracking a laugh in the background and her gaze fell upon the young Uchiha prodigy, who seemed to be rather enjoying this summer walk. 

Miyeko hadn’t felt this much pride in her profession as she did right now and then. Most importantly, she felt pride in her team, in the two boys that would have her back in battle and in life as well. She couldn’t tell if Itachi Uchiha knew, but deep down, she was happy to have him in her life. He was a source of comfort to her. His presence was enough to keep her calm and collected and someone to talk to when the rare occasion presented itself where she had things to get off of her chest. 

The sun’s beaming rays lit her pale face, shining down on her smile. Itachi noticed Miyeko’s face at that precise moment to be different. She was truly smiling. It was the most real, genuine smile he’s seen on her face since he’s known her. What was she thinking about? He wondering while admiring her moment of happiness. Miyeko’s heart was feeling so light and full of hope in this moment. She took a deep breath and told herself that having friends wasn’t so bad after all and that maybe, just maybe the path of the shinobi she had chosen wasn’t so bad after all. Itachi basque in her light. It felt warm. It felt pure. It felt right. He was happy she was happy. 

A couple of drops fell from the sky as Miyeko came back to reality. She wiped the water off of her face and noticed how thick the raindrops were. She looked at her hand and her heart skipped a beat, her eyes wide open. Her hands started to shake uncontrollably. She looked at her fingers. A red, thick, wet substance was dripping from them, staining her skin. Her arms were also covered with it. She knew what it was. Blood. She was covered in blood. Her ears were buzzing. Where was this blood coming from? Her horror daze had stopped when she saw a head flying her away, the head of the Daimyo guard she talked to minutes ago. It landed next to her, his body lying in front of her.

It wasn’t her blood that she was covered with, it was _his_. He had been murdered and decapitated right in front of her. She quickly bounced back and landed on her feet, grabbing a kunai from her pouch. Her immediate thoughts went to Itachi. Where was he? She could hear the clinging and clashing noise of kunai and shuriken being thrown in the near distance. She could hear the flesh ripping and the men screaming before her but her eyes wouldn’t process the terrible scene. Before her, the carriage that the Daimyo was sitting in had been violently shoved to the side of the road, several guards sitting in it were killed, their bodies lying on the dirt. Everything was happening so fast. 

Someone grabbed her arm and yanked her backward. It was Itachi, who pushed her behind him, ready to protect her with his body. Tenma was also by her side, a kunai with his hand. Who caused this? Where was the source of the trauma? Miyeko frantically looked around and saw, in the near distance, a tall, very tall man, all dressed in black. He wore an orange mask with black tiger stripes on it and a single eye hole for him to see. His clothes were bloodstained, katana in hand, the gruesome image of their sensei’s dead body reflecting on the bloody blade. It all happened so fast, she thought. None of her teammates could talk. They were just Genin. They had never seen a massacre before. It all happened so fast... 

_ ‘Where’s the Daimyo?’ _ exclaimed Tenma. Where was he? He was the objective of the mission! 

‘He probably got away.’ said Itachi, in a whisper. They were realizing that they were on their own, facing the masked assassin alone. The guards were dead. Their sensei was dead. There was blood all around them, on them as well. A loud, evil chuckling sound could be heard from behind his mask.

‘They left us here to die.’ realized Miyeko, panic setting into her.

‘Oh, now that’s sad... I don’t particularly enjoy killing children, but I’ll try my best to make it worthwhile for the sake of the effort.’ the masked man said, walking towards them. Tenma, the eldest of the three, turned around and looked at his teammates with a severe look on his face. 

‘You two must get back to the village and inform the Hokage of what happened here. I’ll fight him to give you a chance to run for it.’ he said, turning back around, taking a fighting stance. Miyeko grabbed his arm but he pushed her away.

**_‘Go now!’_** he screamed, tears in his eyes. He knew he would die. He would die for to protect his comrades. A true trait of the shinobi. Miyeko’s eyes swelled up with tears. Itachi was frozen in place, not blinking, in utter shock. Before they had known, the masked murderer and materialized before Tenma so quickly that Miyeko’s survival instincts kicked in. They had to run. Now.

She weaved the signs so fast that even Itachi couldn’t follow. _ Ram. Rat. Ox. Monkey. Ram. Horse. _

** _‘Shadow style: Shadow Mist no Jutsu!_ ** **’** A thick cloud of black fog surrounded the young Genin as the last thing they saw was Tenma’s smile wavering as he was slashed open by the masked assassin. _ ‘_

_'Itachi, run!’ _

They both headed to the thick bushes, scraping their hands and knees. The thick, black fog created by Miyeko’s jutsu was not so easily dissipating and it gave them ample time to run for it if they suppressed their chakra. She knew it would only delay the inevitable if they didn’t run for their lives back to the village. It was a matter of life or death now. Itachi grabbed Miyeko’s arm and pulled her forward, running at a tremendous pace beside her, tears in both Genin’s eyes. Their breaths were short and their bodies ached from the effort of running this fast, this low near the ground for so long. The village seemed so far away. There was no time to think. There was no time to cry. 

In the blink of an eye, they had lost their team. Covered in blood, the youngsters ran so fast that only a whoosh sound could be heard in the distance. A sudden pain hit Miyeko’s arm and blood came gushing from her upper shoulder. Shuriken stars have been thrown at her. Itachi blocked another one with his kunai. He was trying to kill her! He vowed wouldn’t let this masked savage have his way if that was the last thing he would do. He threw paper bombs attached to kunai behind them and used the Fireball Jutsu to set the explosion aflame, pushing their bodies forward. Miyeko’s wounds were pretty deep and she wasn’t running as fast because of the pain. He could hear her moan in pain every step she took. Itachi knew they were in a dire situation.

‘Please, Miyeko! _ Hurry! _’

Miyeko had been hit by shuriken all over her body, her skin ripping from contact with the sharp, star-shaped weapons. She was still running as fast as she could, but the loss of blood was starting to get to her. Itachi noticed just how pale her faced at turned and how blue her fingers were. The rain didn’t help much either. It started to rain so intensely that it was getting harder to keep their eyes open. They could hear the masked assassin behind them catching up at an alarming pace. Itachi closed his eyes, knowing very well what he had to do next. He knew he didn’t want Miyeko to die. He dodged more shuriken coming her way. He glanced at her and noticed the shock on Miyeko’s face, her eyes frozen at the shadow that had appeared behind Itachi.

‘Duck!’ she screamed. Itachi quickly bent his body to hear the terrifying sound of the bloody katana slicing the air over his head as he jumped forward. Itachi fell on the ground, his wet bangs stuck to his face, his breath ragged. They knew at this moment they would die. 

Miyeko ran to Itachi, seeking his gaze and found, instead of his onyx eyes, a pair of red, deep red irises. He had awoken the Sharingan, his clan’s unique dojutsu. Moments away from death, she couldn’t help but notice just how beautiful his eyes were. Just how beautiful _he _was. She frowned angrily. She wasn’t ready to lose him just yet. She could see the blade slicing air coming her way with an ominous sound. Instinctively, she hunched over Itachi and raised a hand in the air to catch the blade with her hand as she closed her eyes tightly, in fear. But nothing happened. 

_'No!’ _

She could feel this sudden rush of energy, of chakra moving to her arm, then her hand and extremities, like a wave of heat that pierced her body. What she saw scared her even more than the blade aimed at her face. Her hand, her tiny white hand had produced a barrier that had stopped the blade completely. This chakra shield she had created had stopped the katana blade from piercing through her body and was repelled by her dark energy as the masked man jumped back, seemingly surprised at the level of chakra display the young Nagaki performed. A membrane-like energy shield had covered Itachi and herself from the imminent killing blow of the masked assassin and had formed a shadow-like bubble around them. Itachi was immobile but Miyeko knew he was still alive. She could hear the ragged breaths of his under her. His hands were covering his eyes. They seemed painful, she thought. He was unable to fight. Her gaze went back to the masked murderer who had started walking towards them again, this time his small chuckles transforming into loud, diabolical laughter. 

‘Who would have known a simple Genin was capable of such advanced ninjutsu. Consider me impressed, little girl.’ he said, dropping the katana on the ground. 

‘Don’t come any closer!’ she screamed, seeing as her technique was wearing off, her chakra quickly depleting. Itachi was still groaning in pain from the sharp tinge in his eyes. 

‘You would sacrifice yourself for this Uchiha boy now, would you?’ the assassin said. How would he know about the Sharingan? He must have noticed the newly active red irises in Itachi’s eyes, thought Miyeko. 

‘I will protect him no matter what! I’m not afraid of death! So be done with it!’ she said, arming herself with a kunai knife. 

‘_Brave_. So brave for you to be willing to die for him. If only the shinobi leaders of this world were as brave as you are, we wouldn’t be in this situation!’ he said, running towards her, a chakra blade in hand, visibly not going to be stopped by anything this time around. 

The loss of blood was getting critical and Miyeko’s body was shutting down, her eyesight wavering. She would stand her ground, she thought, even if there were no blood left in her veins. She wouldn’t let him die. Never. The last thing Miyeko remembers seeing was a flash of white, long hair and ANBU masks before she fell unconscious next to Itachi Uchiha, a boy she barely knew, but deeply cared for.


	5. A Vision of Crimson and Shadows

> Growth occurs when one goes beyond ones limit. Realizing that is also a part of the training.

She slowly opened her eyes and immediately winced in pain. Her heart was beating in her ears and she felt dizzy, but she could still feel her fingers and toes. She was still alive. Her mouth was dry and she was parched, but she was still alive. She slowly opened her eyes once again and looked down. She was lying on a white hospital bed in a small room. There were fresh flowers on her bedside table and the window was open. A breeze of fresh hair caressed her hair and her face as she tried to get up, but was gently pushed back down by the small framed figure at her bedside.

‘Don’t move, Miyeko.’ said the woman. She knew that voice. It was her mother. Miyeko took a look at the medic ninja. She had looked tired with heavy bags under her eyes.

‘Mo-Mom?’ Miyeko called out, her vision still blurry from her slumber.

‘I’m here Miyeko, I’m here. Everything is ok.’ she said, pulling the small kunoichi in a tight motherly embrace, tears rolling down her cheeks. Miyeko could see the relief in her mother’s eyes. 

‘Mom, what happened? Who-who rescued us?’ she asked groggily. Her mother had seemed taken aback that her youngest daughter was so lucid after the ordeal she had just gone through.

‘The Hokage and the ANBU were notified by one of the Daimyo guards who managed to run away. Your sister led the ANBU rescue team.’ she said, rubbing her younger daughter’s hand. Miyeko smiled. She knew it! It was Kuri who came to her aid. Miyeko tried to raise her body from the bed again, but her mother insisted she stayed still for a while longer. Miyeko looked at her body and knew why she was so uncomfortable. Her arms had been sliced open by the rogue ninja’s katana blade and were bandaged. These are definitely going to leave marks, Miyeko thought. The rest of her injuries were superficial and she was thankful for that. Her mind suddenly snapped.

‘Mom, where is Itachi? Is he safe?’ she asked, now agitated. Miyeko’s mother smiled.

‘He is safe, honey. His injuries were not as bad as yours. He was released from the hospital.’ she said, tears forming in her eyes. Itachi was safe. In a sense, that’s what mattered the most for Miyeko, who sighed in relief. She had a sudden vision of him underneath her, his hands clutching his face, trying to get rid of the pain of his newly awakened Sharingan. The thought saddened Miyeko. Why did this happen? Why did her sensei have to die? Why did Tenma have to sacrifice himself? Was this the life she chose? She could still feel the warmth of the Daimyo’s guard on face and hands. The colors were so vivid in her mind. Even the scent of blood was still lingering in her mind. There had to be a meaning to all of this, she thought. No one kills senselessly like that without a deep seething rage inside. What did the assassin want with them? Her mother’s sobs interrupted her morbid thoughts. 

‘Miyeko you were so _lucky_… You and Itachi were so lucky to make it out alive. What-what did you do? What happened?’ she asked. Miyeko closed her eyes. She tried to remember what happened but all she could see in her mind were images of her sensei, of her teammate’s bodies lying in pools of blood.

‘I- I don’t know Mom, it all happened so fast...’ Was all she could reply to her. In truth, Miyeko couldn’t pinpoint exactly what happened because all she could remember was the screams of Tenma as the assassin ran his blade through his guts. She shook her head but the thoughts wouldn’t go away. She decided to escape her thoughts by sleeping them off. 

She woke up a couple of hours later. The sun was setting and the sky was colored a beautiful shade of orange. The wind flowing through her window was gently caressing her face. It soothed her. She had enough strength from the IV drip to raise her hands. She took a look at them. She was bandaged from knuckles to the elbow. It was painful but since she was heavily medicated, her movements weren’t as painful. The sting was bearable. Her mother was still at her side, sleeping soundly, her head lying on the side of the bed. Her gaze went back to her injured arms.

Her hands had been injured but Miyeko thought it could have been worse. She had flashes of a dark, black aura around her hands as the blade sliced the air towards her. What happened? It couldn’t be a jutsu since she hadn’t weaved any hand signs. This left her puzzled. Did her chakra act… on its own accord? The energy around her… did it protect her? How could it? What happened in that mere moment had saved her life. She knew it. She didn’t know what happened but she knew that without the black chakra that stopped the blade, Itachi and were would not be here to talk about it. 

A knock was heard throughout the room. A creak of the door called Miyeko back to reality. Someone was at the door, she thought. She looked at the back of the room to see Itachi Uchiha standing at the door, his face deprived of all emotions. He seemed to be in shock still. He wasn’t too badly banged up, Miyeko thought. Minor scratches and a dislocated shoulder, but healthy for the most part. Miyeko’s mother woke up and smiled, looking at Itachi.

‘Hi, Itachi. How are you feeling?’ she asked.

‘I’m feeling fine, thank you so much for healing my wounds, Mrs. Nagaki.’ he said. ‘Would it be possible to speak to Miyeko… alone?’ he asked, lowering his gaze. Miyeko’s mother smiled.

‘Of course, you can, my dear. Miyeko, I’ll go home for a bit. Your sister will be here as soon as she can.’ she said, removing herself from Miyeko’s bedside. She gently kissed her on the forehead before leaving the room and quietly closing the door behind the two young shinobi. Itachi walked to the chair next to Miyeko’s bedside and sat down in silence. He didn’t meet her gaze like he usually did. His eyes remained lowered and hidden behind his thick, black bangs of hair that covered his face. Miyeko went to raise a hand to push back his hair but he stopped her, grabbing her hand carefully. He looked at the bandages around her arms and frowned, his teeth clenched in order to keep back the quiet sobs from leaving his mouth.

‘Itachi, I-’

‘I’m sorry, Miyeko. This is all my fault...’ he said, taking the young Nagaki girl by surprise.

‘What do you mean, Itachi? None of this is your fault!’ she exclaimed, visibly upset that the Uchiha boy was taking the blame for her injuries.

‘I- I should have been able to protect you, Miyeko.’ he said, in between sobs. Miyeko tried to raise herself up to face the boy next to her injuries weren’t fully healed and the simplest of movements were uncomfortably painful. She took a deep breath.

‘Itachi, I don’t blame you at all for what happened.’ she said, tears now rolling down her cheeks. He hunched over her bed, gripping the sheets in anger.

‘_But I blame myself! _ I am an Uchiha! I have all this power and I can’t even protect the ones that matter to me! I failed the mission. I couldn’t protect our sensei, I couldn’t protect Tenma… I couldn’t protect you! I let you take my pain and got you injured because of my carelessness. I’m _weak! _’ he said, warm tears on his face. He looked at her with his newly awakened Sharingan, his red iris meeting her green ones. Miyeko grabbed his hand and rubbed it with her injured hand, trying to comfort him. He seemed inconsolable. 

His sadness was contagious. She hadn’t seen this side of him before. He usually was so strong, so level headed and calm… the Itachi facing her was now a fragile, emotionally wrecked child. She raised herself up despite the pain and quickly grabbed him in a tight embrace, pulling him closer to her on the hospital bed. Miyeko expected Itachi to move away but to her surprise, he stayed cocooned in her arms, his breathing slowly becoming less erratic. She wiped the tears off of his face and pushed his bangs away from his eyes, inspecting his Sharingan. Miyeko would take years to admit it to herself because of her stubbornness, but until that day, she had never seen anything so beautiful in her short life. And he was looking straight at her with uncertainty in his crimson eyes. 

‘You’re not weak Itachi. You’ve never been weak to me.’ she said, resting her head on his. He returned her embrace and lay next to her on the bed, his head on the pillow next to hers. They hadn’t broken their long gaze. It became a fact for them that they knew that if they had died today, they would have never been able to see each other again and for best friends like they had become, that was the most painful thing of all. They were thinking the same thoughts.

Their minds would run back to the bloodshed, the screams, the smell of dirt and blood, and the clinging of steel. This experience was something that would be engraved in both their memories, it would be something that only the two of them would understand. This feeling of complicity through trauma would deepen their bond, most likely, she thought. It would perhaps make them closer than they already were. She ran her fingers in his hair and smiled.

‘You’re special to me, Itachi.’ she said, closing her eyes. She could feel his heart beating faster.

‘Look at me.’ he said in a quiet, almost indistinct voice. She opened her eyes to look at the two tomoes of his Sharingan as he placed a hand on her face, brushing a lock of black hair out of her face. As his face got closer to hers, she suddenly became very shy, the tip of her ears becoming redder by the second, a blush creeping on her face. ‘Itachi, what are you- what are you doing?’ she asked. Itachi smiled.

‘With these cursed eyes, I can see everything so much clearer than I could ever before. I can _see _you. I see everything about you.’ he said. What did he mean by that? He could see everything that was going on in her head? She started to panic internally. What if he could see just how nervous she was right now? What if his Sharingan was able to read her mind? Would he know what she’s been trying to hide from him for months? The thought gave her nervous chills down her spine. He must know by now, thought Miyeko. They had never been this physically close before and Itachi was comfortable being inches away from her face. His eyes were hypnotizing. Like they were pulling her in his own thoughts. 

His Sharingan’s tomoes swirled and suddenly, Miyeko was transported into a world of sunlight, where it was warm and sunny. She was standing in front of her house, her body healthy and uninjured, Itachi by her side, also in full health.

This couldn’t be reality.

This couldn’t be the hospital room in which they were in. The grass beneath her feet was proof of that. Itachi glanced at her and smiled. 

‘Where are we Itachi? Is this real?’ A large grin appeared on his face. 

‘No, this is not real. But it can be for a minute.’ he said, taking her hand. They walked towards the house in front of them. It was familiar to Miyeko.

‘Wait, is this my house?’ she asked. He nodded gently and pointed at the porch, where two distant figures were sitting down, laughing and talking. As they walked closer down the road towards the house, Miyeko noticed how similar these two individuals were to her. The man, tall and lean, had long black hair and black onyx eyes and the green-eyed woman, feminine and beautiful, had very similar features to Miyeko’s. Miyeko took a step back as she saw the two adults in front of them, sitting on the porch of the Nagaki house seemed to be sharing… **a blue popsicle**. She blinked in shock. Itachi smiled again, a chuckle escaping his lips.

‘Itachi… is this- is this us?’ she asked with a shy stutter, a puzzled frown on her face, her voice trembling. 

‘It seems so to me.’ he said, his gaze upon her.

They quietly looked at the older versions of themselves. They seemed so happy, soaking up the sun on the porch, enjoying their favorite frozen treat while talking and laughing. She noticed just how long the man had let his hair grow, his dark locks caressing his face. His tall figure was lean and muscular and his onyx eyes were warm and inviting. She then looked at this older version of herself and thought that Itachi’s mind must’ve been out of order or something. She couldn’t possibly grow up to be this beautiful, graceful, long-haired woman, could she? A creeping blush appeared on her face as the two individuals leaned in to share a deep, sensual kiss, the kind of kiss that would melt any snow in deep winter. Miyeko blinked in surprise as Itachi started laughing, something Miyeko had never seen him do. 

‘You’ve obviously observed Shisui and Kuri longer than you should have.’ pointed out Miyeko, sarcasm on her tongue.

‘I’ve always been told I was a curious kid.’ said Itachi with a tone of voice that warmed Miyeko’s heart. 

‘Is- is this the future?’ she asked, deep color of red shades coloring her pale cheeks. 

‘I don’t know.’ he said. ‘But it’s the vision I had when my Sharingan awoke.’ he said. Miyeko turned to him, her green eyes meeting his crimson Sharingan. Is this how Itachi saw her? The woman sitting on the porch bathed in sunlight, her shiny loose dark hair shining, her skin glowing. What is the meaning of this vision? Was the Sharingan showing her his innermost desires?

Miyeko couldn’t tell but in that instant, she knew that her feelings towards the Uchiha boy were reciprocated. No words needed to be exchanged in that moment. The vision was enough for both of them to understand their mutual feeling. They stayed there for a moment, looking at their older selves share a peaceful, summer afternoon moment on her house porch. Miyeko turned to Itachi again, who met her gaze. 

‘It’s time to go back, Itachi.’ she said, taking his hand. He nodded in silence as they both closed their eyes. When she reopened them, Itachi's onyx eyes were staring at her, his hand still in hers. They both smiled. They needed need to say anything to each other at that moment. They feel asleep side by side on the tiny hospital bed, they breathing in sync, their dreams vivid and happy.

When she woke up, Itachi wasn’t next to her anymore. She almost jumped off the bed, looking for him. She heard a chuckle behind her and turned around to see her older sister Kuri sitting next to her in the darkness of the night.

‘He went home.’ Miyeko’s face beamed as Kuri grabbed her in her arms, her sister sighed in relief.

‘Oh, Miyeko, I was so worried. I’m so glad you’re alright.’ she said, squeezing Miyeko in a tight embrace, making her wince.

‘Kuri, you’re hurting me.’ she said. The older Nagaki girl loosened her embrace and smiled, her white hair gleaming in the night. 

‘Kuri, what happened? How did you find me?’ she asked. This seemed to have made Kuri upset. Her mouth thinned as her expression darkened, her eyes focused on Miyeko.

‘I was assisting the Hokage on a personal assignment when an injured Daimyo’s guard barged in the Hokage’s office, asking for help for his Lord and that he had been attacked. The Hokage told me that your team was assigned the escort mission and I panicked. I summoned my ANBU team to lead the rescue mission. That old prick Danzo…! He stopped my team in its tracks, stating that the mission was already a failure and that you… that you were probably dead.’ Miyeko listened to her carefully. She recognized this man’s name. Danzo was the leader of the ANBU.

‘They… They didn’t want to send a task force until they knew about the Daimyo’s safety. I got so angry, Miyeko. I couldn’t see straight. I couldn’t leave you to die, not on my life! I disobeyed my orders. I lead my own ANBU team to the murder scene. I was not going to wait for them to decide. When I got there, I saw you and the Uchiha boy at the mercy of this- this fucking_ masked freak _!’ she said, angry tears forming in her eyes.

’But you- you stopped the blade, Miyeko. When the assassin saw us, he fled. Well, not fled- that’s not the right word… he sort of _dematerialized _into thin air. I’ve never seen this before, it was as if he had never been there, to begin with. I brought you to Mom before getting suspended.’ she said, still holding her younger sister in her arms. Miyeko gasped. 

‘_Suspended_? For defying orders? But you’re the best they have!’ she said. Kuri chuckled as Miyeko’s eyes narrowed. Oh no.

‘That’s not _all _that you did, right?’ she asked. Kuri rolled her eyes.

‘I possibly might have somehow just slightly punched Danzo right in his old wrinkly face.’ she said unapologetically. Miyeko sighed.

‘You lost your job because of me, Kuri…’ she said. Kuri rose her head in defiance.

‘Fuck this job. They were going to let you die, Miyeko. You’re my _sister_. The people who will want to hurt you will have to run me over and kill me before I ever let them get to you. I promise you. I swear it. I’m not going back to ANBU, Miyeko. They’re not going to steal away the things I love the most right from under my nose. In any case, I’ll have more time for you. It’s high time we resumed your training.’ she said, running her fingers through Miyeko’s hair. She truly did have the best sister in the world, Miyeko thought. She felt so safe in her arms like nothing could hurt her as long as Kuri was here with her. Miyeko’s thoughts went to Itachi again. 

‘Kuri, did Itachi say anything to you? Did he just leave?'

She then heard Kuri chuckle. ‘You were both sleeping when I got here. He apologized when he woke up and went home.’ She let go of Miyeko and lifted an eyebrow.

‘So. I think you have some explaining to do, little lady.’ said Kuri. ‘What was that Uchiha boy doing on your hospital bed, his face next to your, holding your hand?’ she asked, earning a surprised look from Miyeko. Her younger sister furiously blushed. What had been going on between Miyeko and that boy Itachi? Kuri found their relationship strange from the start but it was now scaring her just how close the two youths had become.

‘We fell asleep, Kuri. Sheesh.’ she said in a quiet voice.

‘Look, Miyeko. I’m not Mom. I don’t have the authority to lecture you, but I’ll be blunt. You’re too young to have affections for this boy.’ she said, crossing her arms. This statement angered the younger Nagaki girl. 

‘You know nothing about him! You know nothing about _us _! It’s nothing like that! How can you judge something you don’t know about?’ she asked. Kuri stayed calm and spoke to her with the softest voice she could muster.

‘Miyeko, listen. This Itachi Uchiha… he’s got something unusual about him. He troubles me.’ she said. This seemed to annoy her younger sister even more.

‘So what? He’s special! He’s my friend. He’s my teammate. He’s my future-’ Miyeko suddenly put her hands on her mouth to stop the flood of words and secrets to come out. She had gone completely mute. ‘You’re future what exactly?’ asked Kuri, seemingly curious about what her sister had to say about what she had just said. Miyeko composed herself.

‘It’s nothing. You wouldn’t understand, Kuri. He’s just so… he's just a little complicated.’ she simply said, defeated. Kuri smiled and patted her younger sister’s head.

‘He certainly does have more layers to him than his dimwitted cousin Shisui, that’s for sure.’ she said with a large grin.

This made both the Nagaki girl giggle. Miyeko soon fell asleep again and Kuri decided to leave her in the care of the Medical Unit and walked home. There was a strong summer breeze that night, Kuri’s long white locks flowing with the wind. Her dark eyes caught a glimpse of a dark, shadowy silhouette that had seemed to have been following in her the night, in the woods, on the road to her house. She stopped and swiftly threw kunai knives in its direction. She had hit nothing. It was as if the ghostly presence had vanished. Maybe it was just a trick of her imagination and that she was tired. She rubbed her tired eyes and resumed her walk. No, it wasn’t her imagination. 

She felt it again, that dark presence near her. Her chakra soon flooded out of her as she scanned the energy around her. ‘Come out, whoever you are.’ she said. The presence following her emerged from the forest adjacent to the road. She grimaced in disgust and rolled her eyes as she realized who it was.

‘What do you want, Orochimaru?’ she asked, crossing her arms, exasperated by the white-skinned man that had walked to her. A sly smile devilishly appeared on his face as his yellow eyes met hers. The legendary Sannin Orochimaru had always come to her in most inopportune moments.

‘My dear Kuri, that’s no way to speak to an old friend! Where are your manners?’ she frowned in annoyance and continued walking. 

‘Look, I don’t have time for you right now. Don’t you have kids to abuse tonight? No special human experiments to do?’ she asked, annoyed, jabbing at his devious character. He seemed shocked. 

‘Goodness, my dear Kuri! _ Such _accusations! And here I thought we were friends.’ he said. She frowned in disgust. ‘You’re mistaken. We’re _not _friends. And we’re _ not _talking either.’ she said, walking faster.

‘I know you had a difficult day. I just wanted to let you know how proud I was of you for protecting the village and its _most valuable members_. Truly.’ he said. Kuri stopped talking and a loud growl escaped her lips.

‘Orochimaru, you have three seconds to tell me what you want or I’ll pay a visit to dear old Gramps Hokage and let him know you’ve bothered the hell out of me.’ she said, her dark chakra flaring in the night. The mere sound of the word ‘Hokage’ sent shivers down Orochimaru’s spine. After all, he knew the Third Hokage better than anyone else in this village. As his old pupil, Orochimaru knew just how troublesome an encounter with his old sensei would be for him. He chuckled uncomfortably.

‘I heard through the ANBU grapevine that your sister saved the Uchiha boy I’m interested in. Miyeko, isn’t it? What a beautiful name. A beautiful name for a beautiful dark chakra user, wouldn’t you say?’

Kuri gave him a blood-chilling look, a look only Orochimaru wouldn’t recognize to fear.

Kuri knew what Orochimaru was hinting at. He wasn’t careful enough with his words. She raised a hand in the air, earning a distinct laugh from Orochimaru. 

‘What are you doing my dear, Kuri, thought that-!’ a strange, guttural noise escaped his lips as something dark, something shadowy grabbed him by the throat. Long claws and willowy dark fingers wrapped around Orochimaru’s white throat, slowly squeezing the air out of his lungs. A sinister chakra ectoplasm like entity had come out of Kuri’s raised hand to grab Orochimaru’s neck in the darkness. The ghostly appearance linked to Kuri’s chakra flow gripped the Sannin’s throat tighter and tighter until he gasped in panic. 

‘Kuri, let me go...’ he managed to say in a breathless whisper. She wouldn’t let go. This thingwas going to learn to keep away from her family if that’s the last thing he did. ‘How did you learn she had the ability to use dark chakra, you old snake?’ she said, slowing raising the Sannin in the air, putting even more pressure on his throat. He grabbed at his throat to loosen her jutsu’s grip to no avail. His hands went right through the ghostly ectoplasm jutsu like a man trying to grab smoke with bare hands.

‘Danzo… Danzo… told… me. Let me go, Kuri.’ he pleaded, using the last of the air in his lungs to beg. She sighed. She released the grip of her jutsu on his body as the snake shinobi fell to the ground, gasping for air. She walked over to him, anger in her eyes.

  
‘If you so much as _look _at the Uchiha boy _or _my sister again, I swear Orochimaru, I won’t hesitate to burn you alive with the flames of all hells. You know I can. And I will.’ she said, disappearing into the night. She would have to train Miyeko in the arts of the Nagaki clan and fast if she was going to learn to protect Itachi Uchiha and herself from the darkness within the walls of this village.


	6. A Bond That Cannot Be Broken

> I am always going to be there for you, even if it is only as an obstacle for you to overcome, you and I have to live together, even if it means hating each other, that…is what big brothers are for…

The road to recovery was a long and arduous process for both Miyeko and Kuri. Miyeko’s wounds were pretty severe and it would be weeks before she could resume her training. The pain in her hands had subsided, but the scars were still visible, and she often hid her hands under the cover, ashamed of the severity of the wounds that left her hands and forearms marked for life. Whenever the nurses wanted to take a look at them, Miyeko would always find an excuse to hide them. Kuri felt horrible for her sister as she observed her younger sister being embarrassed by battle scars. One afternoon, Kuri visited her favorite attire shops on the village’s main street and had bought Miyeko a pair of fingerless, elbow high protective leather gauntlets, which made her sister Miyeko smile from ear to ear. She could once again look at her body with pride, which warmed Kuri’s heart.

‘They won’t take away your pride, Miyeko. Whatever happens to you, never let _anyone_ or _anything_ take away your pride.’ she had said to her sister, patting her head while Miyeko looked into Kuri’s dark eyes with adoration.

The Uchiha Head family had come to see her in the hospital room a couple of times, bringing food and flowers. Even the mighty Fugaku Uchiha, Chief of Konoha’s Police Force, one of the busiest men in town, had accompanied his family to visit the little girl who had protected their son, their prodigy. Itachi was embarrassed when Mikoto Uchiha embraced Miyeko, her arms laced so tight around the Nagaki girl that one of the nurses had to tell her to remove herself from her patient. Mikoto had been a comforting presence to Miyeko, Kuri had noticed. She gave her little sister, from time to time, the experience of having a present mother, which Kuri found touching. Itachi was a constant presence for her younger sister. Every day he would spend time with Miyeko and often Kuri would catch the two young shinobi giggling, alone in the hospital room, when she came back from her routine walks.

Itachi Uchiha, the prodigal child of one of Konoha’s most influential and powerful clans, had such a sweet-tempered nature that Kuri couldn’t help but slowly begin to like the young boy and get accustomed to his presence. He was considerate, kind, attentive, and warm to her sister, bringing her books and puzzles to help pass the time as he sat on the edge of her bed for hours on end, talking to her like she was the only person to exist in the world. When he was here, Miyeko forgot the pain, she forgot the rest of the world around them, forgot that her older sister was in the room with them. Their voices would be so quiet that Kuri felt like she was eavesdropping on their conversations. Shisui, knowing Kuri would be at her sister’s bedside while she recovered, often visited the hospital bringing Miyeko fresh flowers to put on her bedside table. He always brought a separate bouquet for Kuri whenever he would visit with Itachi, which always made for a scene when Kuri and Miyeko’s mother caught the boy flirting with her eldest daughter, shooing Shisui away with a broom.

_‘Get** outta here **you little rascal!’ _would scream her mother, Shisui fleeing for his life, trailblazing down the halls of the hospital to get away from the Nagaki matriarch. Kuri smiled. She _really_ liked that boy. Maybe she would pay him a visit later when no one would be looking for them, where they could be alone. She would perhaps then show just how _appreciative_ she was of him and his kindness, she thought with a silly grin on her face.

Days would slowly pass, and the sweet summer breeze was as warm as ever. While Miyeko mainly ate and slept, Kuri, on the other hand, had never been so active. She had started training again and taking time for herself to improve her stamina. Every day, she would run from very early in the morning to sunrise and help at home. She even had the time to clean her room, which hadn’t been cleaned properly since she couldn’t remember when. She weaved signs and focused her chakra.

_‘Ninja Art: Cleaning no Jutsu!’_ she said. Nothing happened as she grew annoyed, gripping the broom tighter with frustration.

‘You would think that after _hundreds of years_ of creating chakra-based techniques, someone would have thought to invent a jutsu that would sweep floors and clean walls.’ she muttered under her breath as her mother piled on the chores.

‘Don’t forget to wash the dirty clothes and clean the dishes, Kuri!’ she screamed from downstairs. ‘I’d rather teach Genins how to dodge a kick at this point.’ thought Kuri. She then shuddered. ‘Be careful what you wish for, Kuri.’ She had told herself. ‘The Hokage _could very well _appoint me as Jonin sensei. Now_ that _would be annoying.’ she said to herself with a grin. Her daily chores done, she finally had the time to sit down and meditate, just as she used to do before her life became the hectic mess that it was.

She even had elaborated a training plan while Miyeko recuperated and healed at the hospital. For once in her life, Kuri didn’t have to wake up in the morning to attend a mission. She was waking up when her body wasn’t tired anymore, ate when she was hungry, and even took the time to take care of herself a little. She was being a normal sixteen-year-old girl. Being expelled from the ANBU, Konoha’s Special Forces had been a blessing in disguise for Kuri. The strain of the way of the shinobi had worn out her agile body and her flourishing mind. While Miyeko slept, Kuri enjoyed visiting the onsens of the village, reading and even took the time to go on a few long dates with Shisui, who seemed to be delighted to not be chased around the hospital by her mother anymore.

Soon, Miyeko was able to walk and regain the use of her chakra, which delighted Kuri. By the time her wounds had healed almost completely, Itachi and Miyeko had grown a habit of taking a walk early in the morning around the hospital grounds. When Miyeko grew tired, Itachi would support her with his body and walk back to the hospital room. He would then lie next to her on the bed and they would talk for hours. Kuri found it bizarre. These kids could spend hours in silence, looking into each other’s eyes like they could see something in each other’s souls that no one else could. So bizarre, she thought. How unusual for kids their age to share such a bond. They almost seemed _too_ attached to one another, _too_ close for comfort. Kuri wondered why the boy cared so much about her younger sister’s wellbeing. What did Miyeko see in his gaze? She sighed. Life worked in mysterious ways. 

The head nurse told Kuri, on a beautiful summer morning that Miyeko could be released as her condition was satisfactory enough to resume training. This couldn’t make Miyeko happier. She would finally be trained by Konoha’s Shadow Dweller at last. She would grow stronger, Miyeko thought. Much stronger than she could ever dream. ‘Thank you, nurse.’ Kuri said, shaking her hand. That afternoon, Kuri sat Miyeko on her shoulders, and together, they walked home and for the rest of the day, they sat on the porch and drank tea, talking about everything and nothing. To Miyeko, these were some of the best memories she had of her and Kuri.

As soon as Miyeko could fully use her chakra again, Kuri had started training the young Nagaki kunoichi in mastering her newfound powers. They would sit face to face on the ground, cross-legged, in the forest near their house and meditate from very early in the morning until breakfast, and then, the daily drills would begin. Advanced to hand combat and Genjutsu were Miyeko’s specialties. As much as Kuri excelled in those disciplines, she would get a real workout from her younger sister, something she didn’t expect from an almost nine-year-old child. Miyeko had always been the nimble fighter, fast on her feet, with quick and timely reactions. She was a very technical martial artist, measuring distances and strength for each blow she sent Kuri’s way.

Her younger sister’s more than respectable chakra reserves certainly helped her case as she could withstand grueling physical exercise for hours and capable of taking the most brutal of hits. ‘Hit_ harder_, Miyeko! I’m not your sister right now, I’m your opponent! Have no mercy!’ screamed Kuri, blocking an uppercut kick from Miyeko. She frowned and snarled at every punch and kick as she doubled the chakra in her every blow, pushing even Kuri’s owns limits with her hand to hand combat skills. Her movements were so graceful it’s almost as if Miyeko had been dancing around Kuri, her body moving like river water, following a natural flow of motion. _‘Color me impressed!’_ thought Kuri. When their Taijutsu sessions were done, the Nagaki girls could often be found drenched in sweat and tired, but ready for more.

As for Genjutsu, it was no secret that the Nagaki clan excelled in this discipline. Illusions were as part of their intricately woven techniques arsenal and took full advantage of Kuri and Miyeko's creative minds. There was little Kuri could show Miyeko that she didn't already know. Miyeko had such a fertile imagination for her illusions in the Genjutsu discipline that even Kuri found her intriguing and imaginative. Kuri did notice that Miyeko liked horror and gore in her illusions casting and thrived on seeing her foes tangled in webs of images that would drive them to sink into a deep sense of fear and despair. This often made Kuri smirk. How could such a small, budding kunoichi of almost nine be so inclined to want to scare people into submission during fights? In any case, the real learning would come from ninjutsu.

‘Listen to me Miyeko and listen carefully. The Nagaki clan is a small clan compared, say, to the Uchiha clan or the Hyuuga clan. There’s only the two of us left in the Nagaki clan that can use the style of ninjutsu we are blessed to be able to use. Using these techniques will require extreme willpower from you Miyeko, because as much as using what I’ll teach you to defeat your worst enemies will be tempting, you must not use what you learn here, today, to hurt your friends. That is the only reason why I’ve decided to train you in our clan’s secret way of Ninjutsu.’ she said. Miyeko sat on the ground and listened attentively.

‘In Konoha, there are countless of clans. Some clans have ancestral techniques that the most powerful members pass down to future generations. We are a clan that deals with such ancestral techniques. The Nagaki clan, as you may have known already, deals with a very specific skill set that is renowned and infamous in Konoha, the Dark style ninjutsu. What we have learned in the last couple of weeks during our training only works if we sync it with our special blend of chakra ability. The Dark style isn’t a style of its own. It is a result of the use of all chakra elemental natures: Fire, Water, Earth, Lightning and Wind. It is, as you call it, a nature type Kekkei Genkai. Shinobi who do not possess the Kekkei Genkai of our clan can easily use these elements separately without a problem. Where the Nagaki clan’s mutation takes effect is to blend these elements seamlessly in a variety of techniques to make its own nature manipulation. Understand so far?’ she asked her little sister, who seemed captivated, her green eyes round with curiosity. She nodded.

‘Good. Now, I need you to tell me. If you close your eyes and relax, what happens inside your body?’ she asked Miyeko. As soon as Miyeko closed her eyes, Kuri noticed a frown on her face. ‘I can feel _everything_. The energy around me is trying to force itself _into_ me. I can sense your chakra, my own, but also the birds, the trees, the ground… all this energy, is it normal for me to feel this?’ she asked. Kuri smiled. Her younger sister was truly a genius.

‘It’s not normal for someone your age if that’s what you’re asking. Your sensing abilities are very sensitive, Miyeko. I don’t want to scare you, but from what you’re telling me, you have an ability that only the most experienced of shinobi only dream to possess and master, including me. Do you know what that is?’ she asked. Miyeko shyly shook her head. Kuri smiled. She was so young to be learning all of this. ‘You see, you possess an affinity for Senjutsu. I suppose you haven’t learned about that at the Academy, right?’ Again, Miyeko shook her head. Senjutsu? What’s this nonsense?

‘Senjutsu is very different from Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, or Taijutsu. It is the ability to use natural energy and, if you're very proficient with it, mix it with your own chakra to create something new, something powerful. Natural energy is all around us, from the trees to the earth we are sitting on. It’s in every living being. It’s very difficult to explain because unlike you, I am not a Senjutsu user. The First Hokage himself used Senjutsu, did you know? Unlike the First Hokage, I must rely on my own chakra to perform Ninjutsu. I can’t feel what you feel when you close your eyes. Sometimes I wish I could. See? In many ways, you are more talented than me.’ said Kuri, grinning at her younger sister, who seemed confused, but happy.

‘I’m… I’m more talented than you? But Kuri, you know so much more than I do! You have a Kekkei Genkai! I could never achieve what you have achieved…’ she said, lowering her eyes.

‘My Kekkei Genkai lets me mold chakra to my imagination’s desires, Miyeko. Our powers are spiritual, ethereal, part of an imaginary world I created for myself. For me, everything happens here.’ she said, pointing at her younger’s sister’s forehead. ‘It’s a product of what happens in between your ears. Get it? Our clan’s bloodline limit permits me to create shapes, forms, the summons of chakra that I foresee in my mind, it governs my energy to create something with all the elemental natures. I can create things out of nothingness with my chakra and use all the elemental natures to create this for example.’ she said, focusing chakra to her hand. Miyeko’s eyes went wide as a dark chakra blade formed in Kuri’s hand. It was a tangible object that she created with her own energy. The smoky, sharp object seemed sharper than even a real blade. ‘Consider me a bit like an artist, in a sense. What I envision in my mind, my chakra creates for me before my eyes.’

‘Why is it dark, your chakra?’ the younger Nagaki asked. Kuri smiled. ‘Remember when you tried mixing colors of paints when you were younger, Miyeko? What happens when you mix all the colors together?’ she asked. Miyeko thought for a moment. ‘Well, it became a very dark color. Almost black. The colors were muddled.’ she said. Kuri smiled. ‘This is what happens when you mix all the elemental natures together. You get a dark color, hence why our clan calls it the shadow release.’ A smile appeared on Miyeko’s face. ‘You are amazing, Kuri.’ she said. ‘You can do everything.’ she continued adoration in her eyes.

‘Being a shinobi of Konoha is not about being someone who can do it all, Miyeko. It’s about being able to help others, to strengthen, to protect the big family that we are in this village. Some call if the Will of Fire. I call it a responsibility. You have been given unique abilities and strengths. You need to use it for a greater purpose than empowering yourself. You got that?’ she said, rubbing her younger sister's hair, making it messy. Miyeko frowned, still puzzled.

‘What would happen if I could do that?’ she asked. ‘Use the abilities of my Kekkei Genkai?’ Kuri asked in return, Miyeko nodded silently, as curious as ever.

‘Well, if you could use Senjutsu with our clan’s Kekkei Genkai… to be able to use nature’s energy to create dark energy Ninjutsu at will, to be a vessel of spiritual and natural energy, to be able to paint with the colors of shadows… Well, let’s just say that no other village would dare to threaten us ever again.’ she said on a more somber tone. Kuri seemed deep in thought for a moment. That idea struck her, it haunted her thoughts. What if that was possible? Could such things be? It puzzled her. Until she could investigate further, Kuri would ensure that she would be able to protect her sister, that was a promise she had made to herself.

‘One last thing, Miyeko.’ she said, grabbing a big scroll she had placed against a tree at the beginning of their training session. The scroll was bigger than Miyeko and seemed very heavy. As the older Nagaki sister let is fall on the ground to unveil its content, Miyeko felt a surge of energy coming from it. What was this scroll about? There was so much energy trapped in the paper of this scroll… What did it mean? Kuri opened the scroll to reveal signatures on it. Blood signatures. Someone had written in it with their blood. This made Miyeko shudder. What magic did this scroll contain and why was Kuri in possession of it?

‘Miyeko, bite your finger. I need you to sign this area of the scroll with your blood. I’ll explain later. Do it.’ she asked. No, more like she demanded from Miyeko, who did her sister’s bidding without asking why. She noticed that all the other signatures on the scroll were bearing the name of Nagaki. Were these the signatures of her ancestors? As soon as her name was signed on the river paper of the scroll, Kuri quickly rolled in back and closed the scroll, leaving Miyeko puzzled.

‘What did do exactly?’ she asked.

‘I made you sign a Summoning contract. Pick up your things, we need to get somewhere more… open.’ she said. Miyeko trusted her sister once and as soon as they were ready, they headed for a small training area outside of the village’s walls. Kuri walked fast and Miyeko had to job beside her to keep up with her older sister. ‘Where are we going?’ she asked. Kuri smiled. ‘I have one more technique I have to show today. You’ll understand when we get there.’

Half an hour later, they had finally reached a plateau made of a rocky terrain that seemed deserted. ‘Perfect.’ mumbled Kuri, who dropped her backpack on the ground. ‘Straighten up a little, Miyeko. We’re going to meet some very important… folk.’ she said. Meeting? Who were they going to meet? Someone important? Thought Miyeko. Who could they be? And what relationship do these people have with her sister? Friends? She had so many questions. Was this meeting related to the scroll she had just signed with her own blood?

‘This is _exactly_ the kind of place we need for formal introductions.’ she said, smiling at her younger sister, who seemed to be even more puzzled than when she signed the scroll. Kuri quickly bit her thumb, swiped a bloodline down her palm, and performed a series of hand signs and placed her hand on the ground. A strong wind brushed the Nagaki sister’s long hair, sending cold shivers down Miyeko’s spine.

‘Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey, Ram…’ she murmured. **_‘_**

**_Summoning Jutsu!_’** exclaimed her sister. A gust of wind pushed Miyeko backward, sending her flying in the air to land on her back. She groaned in discomfort as she sat up to notice a big cloud of grey smoke taking over the training grounds they were on. The ground trembled as the air grew thicker with smoke. What’s happening? Thought Miyeko, her mind racing. The clouds of smoke were thick but Miyeko could sense something, a source of chakra hidden in the shadowy mist. It was large. Very large. As the figure became clearer, Miyeko couldn’t help but back away in fear of this ominous chakra she felt before her. As the smoke cleared, Mieyko saw a pair of ruby red eyes piercing through the darkness. A very large four-legged creature with dark fur and long claws and fangs appeared before the Nagaki sisters, a loud growl escaping its mouth.

The creature was taller than the Hokage tower and Miyeko could have sworn she saw a large gaping mouth in the distance as the monster approached its head, leaning towards her. Its growl was blood-chilling and sent shivers down her spine. Miyeko was paralyzed. She couldn’t move in fear of what that thing would do next. The ground trembled again as the giant bear-like creature focused its gaze on the small Nagaki girl, its large black nose almost touching Miyeko’s face. The bear looked at her with its red eyes. It was wearing a crown of crystals that seemed like it was coming out of its skull and it reflected the sun’s rays on Miyeko’s face to illuminate her fear-stricken expression. ‘Kuri! _What’s going on?_’ she asked, her voice barely reaching her sister.

‘Don’t move.’ she heard her say, her sister’s voice reaching her through the smoke. The bear-like creature inhaled deeply as it took in Miyeko’s scent and its claws slowly dug in the rocky ground, the creature ready to pounce, crouched on the ground. Miyeko noticed the sharpness of the bear’s long fangs, shaped like crystal daggers. They were now so close to her that Miyeko could see her own reflection in it. That creature’s bite would be fatal. Her breathing was so quiet all you could hear was the bear’s own breathing in between low, guttural growls. Streaks of white fur came out of the giant bear’s ears and were so long it touched the ground next to Miyeko. The ruby eyed creature closed its mouth and grinned at Miyeko, her voice deep and rich.

‘Is this the new human who signed the contract?’ asked the creature. Miyeko heard a laugh in coming in next to the creature. ‘Yes, don’t eat her, Mother Ainu. She’s my little sister.’ The large female bear lowered her head again to face the younger Nagaki sister, her red eyes meet her green ones.

‘What’s your name, little human?’ asked the bear demon sitting in front of her. She was clearly towering over the eight-year-old despite the effort to lower herself to the ground. Miyeko looked at her sister and the older Nagaki girl nodded gently, inviting Miyeko to answer. She swallowed her fear and rose to her feet, looking straight into the demon bear’s eyes. ‘My name is Miyeko Nagaki. P-Pleased to make your acquaintance.’ she stuttered, bowing nervously before the giant bear. The mother bear gave a low chuckle.

‘She is the most _adorable_ little human I’ve ever seen.’ Cooed the large bear. ‘You can call me Mother Ainu. I’m the mother she-bear of the Diyu Mountains. Have no fear, I cannot hurt you. You are under my protection now, little one. I’ll do what I can to get you out of trouble when you summon me and my clan.’ Said the demon she-bear, sitting on the ground, making the earth quake under her weight. Miyeko’s eyes couldn’t be any rounder, noticed Kuri. Every day, Miyeko seemed more and more fascinated by what the ninja world could offer her.

‘Do you accept the contract with my kind?’ she asked the small human. Once again, Miyeko looked to Kuri for guidance. Kuri nodded again, indicating that her trust would not be misplaced. Miyeko looked at the demon she-bear and quietly answered ‘Yes.’

‘Alright then. I accept the contract as well. Only one more thing to get out of the way before this concluded the greeting ceremony…’ said the older mother bear as two other clouds of smoke appeared. Kuri helped Miyeko dust herself off as two smaller cubs the size of her house appeared next to the bear matriarch. They had the same markings at their mother, both with black fur and white markings around their eyes, crystals ornating their heads and white fur fluffing out of their ears. Miyeko smiled. They seemed so small compared to the older bear demon, she could almost qualify them as cute. Kuri suddenly squealed in delight. 

‘Mother Ainu, you had twin cubs! How extraordinary!’ she exclaimed, excitement in her eyes. She was transfixed by the spectacle of the two cubs, one with blue eyes, the other with green eyes.

‘Mom, why did you summon us?’ said the first cub yawning, seemingly annoyed about having been disturbed during its nap. He earned a well-deserved strike of a paw behind its head as the mother bear growled. He winced in pain as his brother tried to hide his laughter. ‘This is your new protégée, Miyeko Nagaki. From now own, when she calls for you, you answer the summons. Are we clear? She asked, earning a welp of submission from her cub. ‘Yes, mom.’ he said, rubbing the sore spot on the back of its head.

The second cub walked towards Miyeko, his eyes staring at her small frame. ‘She is the smallest, frailest little cub I’ve ever seen in my life. A bird without feathers. No wonder she needs our help, look at her. So_ tiny_.’ he said, grinning, his sharp fangs showing. Without warning, Miyeko raised a hand towards the smaller bear and gave him the middle finger and a grimace that made Kuri laugh to tears and angered the green-eyed cub. The second cub let out a menacing growl and raised its enormous paw towards her as she younger Nagaki took a fighting stance.

‘_I’ll eat your silly little arm for this, human!_’ There was no time to move. The massive sharp claws were heading right toward her. Miyeko closed her eyes, but the threat never came for her.

‘You will do no such thing! You insolent little cubs!’ exclaimed Mother Ainu as she crashed her paw on her cub’s neck, stopping him in his tracks. She grabbed the other cub by the scruff of its neck and put him next to his brother, both cubs now lying flat on the ground in submission. ‘Mom, you’re hurting...us!’ the blue-eyed cub said while the green-eyed bear winced in pain under their mother’s giant paw.

‘Apologies for this situation, Miyeko. This is their first summons. They need to be taught a lesson. Show some good faith, boys. Introduced yourselves, _now_.’ she said in an angry snarl. The cubs understood the severity of their actions when they noticed that their mother wasn’t moving an inch, still waiting for them to talk to the small human down on the ground, facing them. They gave each other a look and faced Miyeko once again, this time in a calm fashion.

‘I’m Gozu.’ the blue-eyed beast said in a low growl. ‘And I am Mezu.’ continued the other beast, its green eyes staring straight at Miyeko.

‘We accept the contract.’ they said in unison, their mother loosening her grasp on them as they said the words or binding. She seemed pleased. She removed her paws from their neck scruffs and smiled, showing her fangs. Still unsure about the whole situation, Gozu turned around and seemed puzzled as to why they were agreeing to this unison contract between the tiny humans and themselves. ‘Mom, do we _have_ to babysit these little humans?’ asked Mezu, wearing a big frown on his cub face. ‘Why are we doing this exactly?’

The demon mother bear seemed calm once again. ‘Because the binding agreement we have with the Nagaki clan has been strong for decades and will remain strong until there is none of us left standing. Their ancestors saved our kind from extinction and gave us lands to prosper and feed. It makes them like our own, it makes us family. When I pass away, you will be carrying the responsibility of coming to the Nagaki clan’s aid. What do bears do when one of our own is threatened?’ asked Mother Ainu. The cubs grinned.

‘We tear our enemies apart. Chew right through them.’ replied Mezu. ‘And eat them alive. We show no mercy.’ continued Gozu, his long fangs showing with an arrogant smirk.

‘That’s right. My sons, these creatures are little humans, yes, but they’re also cubs from our clan. We protect _our_ clan. We protect _them_.’ She said, a glimpse of pride in her red eyes. These words from the demon she-bear echoed right into the Nagaki sister’s ears. Kuri held her younger sister’s hand, smiling at her with pride.

‘We are family, Miyeko. We must protect our bond. I’ll do anything to keep you safe, I swear it.’ She said, hugging her little sister, pulling her in a tight embrace. Mother Ainu, Gozu and Mezu were now all on their four legs, showing the sisters just how big they were, towering well over the tree line. ‘We have to go now. Summon us when you need our assistance.’ said Mother Ainu, her voice deep and strong. Kuri smiled at her from the ground. ‘Thank you, Mother Ainu! Safe travels home!’ she said as the creatures disappeared in clouds of smoke. 

Miyeko removed the dust from her clothes as Kuri picked up her bag from the ground. ‘Any other surprises in store for me today, big sister? Any wolf demon I should be acquainted with?’ asked Miyeko, laughing.

‘Well, I did prepare a snake pit to push you into to test your evasion skills.’ She said, noticing the terrified look on her younger sister’s face. ‘But that’s for another training session.’ A wide grin appeared on the older Nagaki girl’s face. ‘That’s all for today.’ she said. Both of them were exhausted. Summoning the Bear Clan of the Diyu Mountains drained the last drops of chakra Kuri had. Miyeko was also pretty tired, but it seemed she had other plans than to come home and drink tea with her sister.

‘Thank you for training me today, Kuri. Is it ok if I go to the Uchiha compound now?’ she asked. Kuri nodded.

‘Of course, you can. Say hello to your _friend_ Itachi for me.’ she said, making her sister blush a little. Her little sister waved goodbye as she ran the road back to the village, to the boy she liked so much. Miyeko now out of sight, Kuri was able to be fixated on the last bit of conversation she had with her younger sister, back at the family house. Miyeko was now protected by a Summoning Jutsu. That should be enough to keep even disgusting little shits like Orochimaru at bay for a while, she thought. Even the mighty Orochimaru, one of the three legendary Sannin of Konoha, wouldn’t be stupid enough to step on Mother Ainu’s big toe. Kuri did well to make her sister sign the Nagaki clan’s Summoning contract. No one would be able to touch her until... well, until a bigger threat would come her way. She knew deep down that this threat was going to come for Miyeko one day and Kuri would make damn sure the young Nagaki girl would have the tools to defend herself. Something still preoccupied her mind and made her restless.

_‘What would happen if I could do that?’ Her younger sister had said._

_‘Use the abilities of my Kekkei Genkai? If you could use Senjutsu with our clan’s Kekkei Genkai… to be able to use nature’s energy to create dark energy Ninjutsu at will, to be a vessel of spiritual and natural energy, to be able to paint with the colors of shadows… Well, let’s just say that no other village would dare to threaten us ever again.’ _

These lines echoed again and again in her mind. The thought of Miyeko possessing her Kekkei Genkai, her clan’s legendary bloodline limit, was baffling and highly improbable, yet... Could it be done? Could she manage such a feat, something that hasn't been done before? And if it were, what kind of Forbidden Jutsu would she have to perform to commit such an act as to duplicate and transplant her unique abilities into her sister? She knew that even thinking about such unnatural things was a crime passable of death in Konoha, but thoughts were private until spoken out loud, she reminded herself. These thoughts haunted Kuri the entire way back home as the sun began to set behind her. She would have to pay a secret visit to her dear, old, slimy friend after all...


	7. Shinigami

> If you want to know who you are, you have to look at your real self and acknowledge what you see.

One year has passed since that day Miyeko learned about the Summoning technique. It sure did come in handy when Itachi and her fought their enemies in the Forest of Death, during the last Chunin Exams. Since the incident with their Genin team, Itachi and Miyeko, the most advanced and talented novice shinobi of the village, had the blessing of the Third Hokage to participate to the Chunin Exams independently, without an official team sanctioned by the village. They entered the Forest of Death separately, but once inside, they knew that working together, like they always did, would be beneficial for them both. The two-men cell they formed gave hell to even the older and more experienced Genin participants who came from all corners of the shinobi world.

Itachi knew that he was advanced enough to take these exams, but he never imagined that Miyeko would have improved this much in such a short period of time, especially after the injuries she had sustained only a few months back. It seemed her spirit was renewed after that unfortunate accident. Her mastery of several Nagaki ninjutsu techniques, not to mention her exquisite hand to hand combat skills, her intuitive chakra sensing abilities and a very advanced set of illusion techniques left him speechless. Where did she find the strength, the will to fight in such a way? He often wondered just how he would be able to keep up with her. Itachi was never the young man to doubt his skills but when he saw Miyeko execute herself in the Forest of Death, the Preliminaries and the Finals, he knew that she was no ordinary kunoichi. With his Sharingan, his own shadow shuriken techniques, his intricate Ninjutsu, his acute intellect and his tracking skills, the two of them made quite a pair, a team only fools would try to sneak upon.

With his Sharingan, he observed her every move, her every technique, how the flow of her hits matched the temerity of her use of ninja arts. There was no other way of putting it: she was truly a gifted kunoichi, someone he could see himself counting on every day. No even his cousin Shisui, already a Jonin, could rival her in stealth. Miyeko had managed to sneak up on a skilled Genin team from the Hidden Mist Village without a sound, almost cat like. Her movements were so smooth and coordinated that even the fastest of opponents wouldn’t have time to contemplate defeat without her sending him into the deep shadows of the illusions she put them under. Screams of horror escaped the mouths of her preys as she made them see exactly why they should fear her, why they would have preferred their guts to be cut open by her instead of being imprisoned in her hellish Genjutsu, the visions of truly horrific, bloody nightmares she put them through before taking their scroll for herself, leaving them in a ghostly trance on the ground. The thought made even Itachi shudder as she walked back to him, unphased, her expression stoic and calm.

‘Don’t you think you went a little overboard with the horror?’ he asked. She shrugged nonchalantly. Horror was, indeed, her specialty. And she wasn’t afraid to use it in her illusions. She didn't seem to mind the theatrics of it.

‘I didn’t like how they spoke about our village. So condescending. So uncivilized. That’ll give them a taste of what happens when you badmouth Konoha.’ She replied coolly. He sighed and smiled. It couldn’t be helped. The older Miyeko got, the spunkier she was with him.

Itachi, on the other hand, preferred the more straightforward approach to taking the scroll from his chosen enemy team: a good use of raw intellect. Miyeko waited behind a tree while Itachi trapped the three Genin from the Village Hidden in the Sand in metal wires, making it easy for him to reach in the leader’s weapons pouch to find the Heaven scroll he needed to advance further in the competition. As he rejoined, Miyeko gave him a signature look of her, the kind of look she often gave Shisui Uchiha when she was unimpressed with jokes, any of his jokes.

‘That was boring.’ She stated, looking in Itachi’s eyes as he deactivated his Sharingan.

‘There was no reason for me to use violence. They didn’t fight back. Brute strength was unnecessary.’ He said, nudging her arm.

‘Itachi Uchiha, the prodigal child of the Uchiha clan, the famous number one Genin of the village, used _strings _to take the scroll of his opponents... You can be such a troll sometimes, you know that?’ She said, a giggle escaping her lips. He smiled at her as they walked away laughing. They were probably the only ones enjoying themselves in that damn forest as far as he was concerned.

The Summoning technique that Miyeko performed against a giant snake near the edge of the Forest of Death dissuaded most teams competing with Itachi and Miyeko from ever trying to take their Heaven and Earth scrolls. The Chunin Exams entertained the cubs, Mezu and Gozu, who had become very good friends with the Nagaki heir. They even made friends with Itachi, calling him an ‘introverted genius’. Itachi and Miyeko stayed together during the day and slept very close to one another at night. For three days, their two-men cell were connected, more than any other team competing against them. Itachi made sure to sleep with one eye open, to spot any enemy coming for them in the dark of night… and to make sure Miyeko could rest soundly, brought to sleep by the sound of the river flowing through the forest. 

The nights were cold in the forest as the youths slid inside their sleeping bags, exhausted from the day. Sleeping near one another wasn’t as uncomfortable as Itachi initially thought. He had become so accustomed to Miyeko being there, with him, in almost everything he did, that the sound of her breathing, her soft snore when she slept was a source of comfort to him. He could hear the relaxed inhaling and exhaling, the occasional soft moan escaping her lips as she dreamt things he couldn’t see with his eyes, only with his imagination. What did she see when she slept? What did she hear, feel? His own thoughts were interrupted by a slight pressure on his back. In the cold of the night, Miyeko had crept closer to him to lay against his back as she shivers, her teeth chattering. 

‘Itachi, I’m so cold.’ she said. ‘Can we light a fire?’ 

‘You know we can’t… We’ll get spotted.’ he said. He could feel her body balling up in her sleeping bag, trying desperately to keep warm in the chill of the dark. He could feel her discomfort through the fabric of his own sleeping bag and sighed. 

‘Here, get up, we’ll use our sleeping bags as blankets. My body heat should keep you warm.’ he said. He then zipped the two sleeping bags together as he felt Miyeko’s body against his. Again, Itachi was so used to the proximity of Miyeko that her legs brushing against his skin didn’t feel foreign to him, it felt natural. As she began to warm up against it, Itachi couldn’t help but thing just how comfortable he was with her. The only other person he trusted in his presence while he tried to fall asleep was Sasuke, who occasionally climbed in his bed in the middle of the night. But Sasuke was his beloved brother, his flesh and blood. Miyeko was not, yet…

He abruptly stopped thinking straight as he felt Miyeko’s leg wrap around his lower body, gripping unto him, her arm sliding around his waist. She was clutching to him in her sleep! The warmth of her skin was welcomed as a cold wind rose up. He then decided to turn around, his face now facing hers, his chest pressed against hers, her hair tangled with his, their arms touching. Even when she slept, Miyeko always had the prettiest expressions. A blush crept on Itachi’s face as he remembered walking in on his parents once as they were sleeping in the same position, so close to one another. The ten-year-old Itachi couldn’t really understand why he felt like he needed her so close to him in that instant, but instinctively, he pulled her closer to him, their bodies firmly pressed against one another, the heat of their skin warming the two young teens as Miyeko opened her eyes once again. 

‘Itachi? What are you doing?’ she asked as she felt his hand on her lower back. Itachi smiled. There was no sign of embarrassment in his expression.

‘I’m trying to warm you up. Seems like its working.’ he said, looking deep into her groggy green eyes. Miyeko smiled. She did feel a lot warmer and strangely very comfortable against him. The cold air blowing around them didn’t seem as cold anymore to her. She snuggled up against him, resting her forehead against his. ‘Itachi, would it be… would it be terrible if we… I mean, I know we’re not _supposed _to, but… I was wondering if you think we could try to…’ she whispered, but then stopped. As much as she wanted to make sense to him, she knew the stutter didn’t help the clarity of her request. Itachi raised an eyebrow in confusion. A blush crept on her face as her heart beat faster against his chest. 

‘Itachi, I want to kiss you.’ she said firmly. This time around, he heard and understood everything. His eyes now fully open, he opened his mouth to reply something to her, but he couldn’t. His throat had suddenly become very dry, his palms sweating. Did she just ask him what he thought she asked? Or did he imagine things? Her hand crept up on his chest as she placed it on the side of his face, brushing his bangs out of the way. 

‘I know we’re probably not supposed to, not to mention Kuri would be furious with me, but please… Just once.’ she said in a quiet voice, her eyes lowering. She knew she was being ridiculous, but she had to know something. There was an answer she suddenly had to have. Itachi blinked, still unable to talk. He just looked at her, in her emerald green eyes. He looked at her face, noticed the faint blush on her cheeks, the light trail of freckles on her alabaster skin, the way her ears curved outwards a bit, the rose tint of her lips, the small round chin that gave her character. He smiled. How could he refuse? 

Itachi then pressed his lips on hers as she gasped in surprise. The inexperience of his kiss was all her heart needed to melt and return the kiss. It was an awkward yet warm chaste kiss, something that would bring them closer in a way only they could understand. Her lips were so soft, he thought. He often saw Shisui kiss Kuri and had wondered for a while what it would be like for him to try it with Miyeko. After all, who else would he have his first kiss with? She had been with him for it seems like forever now. He knew her so well, all her quirks and habits, from the way she frowned when displeased, to the blush she wore on her face when embarrassed to the way she twisted her hair around her finger when nervous. She opened herself to him the minute he dropped his forehead protector. She knew him better than anyone else too, better than his cousin, better than his little brother, better than his parents even. She was the one who had truly known about him… _everything_ about him. He didn’t have to tell her or show her, she just knew. His heart was beating fast as he pulled her even closer, her back arching against his small fingers. She pressed her lips more firmly on his before pulling away to breathe. The heat had gone to her cheeks, now scarlet. He didn’t say anything at first and she broke the silence.

‘Itachi, I- I need to know something.’ she said, his curiosity piqued. ‘Ever since you’ve shown me the vision that day at the hospital… I couldn’t help but think… Is this our future?’ she asked, taking him by surprise. Truth be told, Itachi had wondered the same for many days. He decided to not talk about it again when he knew Miyeko hadn’t approached him with it afterwards. He sighed. 

‘I don’t know. What we saw that day… Maybe it was because of what happened during the mission… Maybe we had that vision because we both needed to know that it was going to be alright…’ he said. She pulled him in a tight embrace, her head now in his neck nook. 

‘But what if it was our future? What if by chance you end up being with me? And I with you?’’ she asked with a furious blush on her face. Itachi took a moment to think, but finally answered something that made Miyeko’s heart stop. 

‘Then I would make sure you wake up every morning with a smile on your face and when you would go to bed every night.’ he said. She was at a loss for words. Itachi, the boy that had been so annoying to her in the beginning, the boy who grew closer to her as he became her best friend, confident, emotional support, became something so much more to Miyeko in that moment. He was her future. ‘Is this fate?’ she asked, pressing herself against him, her hips resting against his lower half.

‘I’m not sure, but whatever is happening to us, I don’t think I want it to stop.’ he said.

‘But we’re so young Itachi… So many things can happen until- until now and then. How can we know for sure? How can we know our fates are connected so deeply?’ she asked with a smile on her face. Itachi pressed his chin against the top of her head, her hair tickling his nose.

‘We’ll just have to wait and see, Miyeko. You’ll just have to stay with me to find out.’ he said with a grin. They both fell asleep that night without a single worry. 

The rest of the Chunin exams seemed like so long ago to Miyeko as she woke up from her slumber, on her bed, weeks later. She noticed the Chunin vest on her desk chair. ‘Green is not my color.’ she stated. ‘Out of all color they could have chosen from… It had to be the ugliest color on me.’ she mumbled as she brushed the morning knots out of her waist length black hair. She had reached her goal of becoming a Chunin a couple weeks ago when she won her match against a skilled Genin from Kumogakure, whose deadly lightning katana swords were no match for her skill in stealth and evasiveness. Before he noticed, Miyeko had used the Shadow Possession Jutsu, mainly used by the Nara family, to make him grab one of his swords to point it at his own neck before the referee stopped the match, declaring Miyeko the winner. After that, the Third Hokage deemed Miyeko skilled enough to receive her Chunin qualifications, along with Itachi Uchiha, who had been judged as the best candidate to participate in the Chunin exams in years. She was happy for him and laughed as he received his honors, embarrassed from his mother sending him kisses and making a scene from her arena seat. She seemed so proud of her son, Miyeko thought. 

When Miyeko received her honors, she had looked for her parents, but she didn’t see them and thought that work probably had kept them from witnessing her achievements. No matter, she was used to it and her sister had probably been watching her, she thought as she tried to spot her sister’s long white locks. Miyeko suddenly frowned as small tears formed in the corner of her eyes. She _couldn’t_ see her. Her heart sank into sadness as he noticed that on this very special day for her, not one of her family members were there to cheer for her. Not even her big sister, who had been as of late, her only source of support. Miyeko’s head dropped in disappointment but soon heard her name from the excited crowd and saw Mikoto Uchiha’s arm in the air, waving at Miyeko with a smile on her face. 

_‘You did it my dears! **I’m so proud of you!** You guys are the best!’_ she screamed, annoying the other spectators around her with her enthusiasm. Miyeko’s expression changed then and she waved back at Mikoto, which seemed to embarrass Itachi beyond words, his face hidden behind his long bangs. Was this what it felt like to have a family that’s involved? Is that how a normal kid should feel? These memories were etched into Miyeko’s mind and whenever she thought of that day, Mikoto’s encouraging words were still as clear as day to her. As was her sister’s _absence_. 

Miyeko had a day off from her new Chunin assignments and decided to go for a walk to get breakfast. When she left her room, a sudden thought crossed her mind as she saw her sister’s bedroom door closed shut. She hadn’t really spoken to Kuri in weeks, only getting the basic greetings and acknowledgement from her before Kuri returned to her room and locking the door behind her. It was very unusual for the Nagaki sisters to not talk for more than a couple days and it pained Miyeko’s heart. Had she said something to her older sister that hurt her feelings? Had she done something wrong? Why was her sister ignoring her? Kuri had been the only source of familial comfort to Miyeko since her parents were absent all the time and Miyeko felt for the first time truly alone in her house. No, she wouldn’t let this slip. Maybe Kuri was sick? Even when she was sick before, Kuri never went radio silent with her younger sister. Miyeko’s heart pounded against her chest in anxiety. Maybe something was wrong with her sister, something worse than a cold. 

The wooden floors creaked under her feet as she walked towards Kuri’s room. She could feel her sister inside the room thanks to her sensing abilities. She was awake and calm. As Miyeko put a hand on the doorknob, she thought about the absence of her sister at her Chunin graduation ceremony and how angry she had been at the older Nagaki girl for missing it. They were supposed to be sisters, best friends, partners in crime… As she felt the pain of that day against, she pushed the unlocked door open and slammed it against the wall. ‘Kuri, _what the hell is your problem-_’ but she stopped talking, her eyes scanning the room, in shock. 

Kuri was sitting in the middle of the room, hunched over several black scrolls, her hair disheveled and untamed. Her room was a complete mess but that’s not what hit Miyeko. It was the countless amount of very old, very ominous looking scrolls lying on her bedroom floor, unrolled, the words mixing from scroll to scroll. Kuri was writing on pieces of scroll parchment and Miyeko noticed her handwriting on the walls of her room, like graffiti. She had marked her walls with incantations, symbols, formulas, scribbles that made no sense to Miyeko and her gaze turned back to her sister. Ink splattered on the floor, along with phials filled with what seemed to be blood and other miscellaneous liquids used to write on the scrolls with. Miyeko knelt as her hand reached to pick up the sinister looking scroll from the ground to read it. She loudly gasped in fear as her sister had swiftly moved to violently grab her arm, immobilizing the younger Nagaki. 

_‘Get out!_’ she said, venom on her tongue, heavy bags under her eyes. Her usually friendly expression had turned to a scowl. She had grabbed Miyeko’s arm so harshly that she was leaving a red print on her skin, her nails digging in her skin. Miyeko winced as Kuri felt droplets of blood swell under her nails from the sheer force used on her sister. Kuri’s face was twisted in an obscure snarl as she forcefully pushed her younger sister away, towards the door. For the first time in her life, Miyeko had learn to fear Kuri Nagaki, Konoha’s Shadow Dweller.

‘Kuri, what the hell is wrong with you? Why are you like this? _I’m not leaving here until you tell me!_’ the younger Nagaki screamed at the white-haired girl sitting in the middle of the room. Kuri didn’t answer her. She kept on reading the scrolls lying on the ground, ignoring Miyeko’s very presence. Miyeko was about to jump on her direction when Kuri turned her head around and said something that made Miyeko’s blood freeze in her veins. Behind her unkept hair hiding her face, Miyeko saw Kuri’s menacing gaze.

‘Forget what you’ve seen here. Forget it like you life depends on it. Or _I’ll_ make you forget.’ she said, her expression threatening, her voice steady, darkness in her eyes. Miyeko was frozen in place. Her heart was beating in her ears as a shiver traveled down her spine, tears forming in her eyes. All she could hear before she left was her sister mumbling to herself, repeating the same thing over and over again: _‘I’m almost there. I’m almost there…’_ Miyeko wanted to disappear, to vanish. Her lower lip trembled from a sob as Miyeko took a step back, deeply hurt by her sister’s threat. She ran out of the house as she desperately tried to catch her breath, her mind racing. 

As she ran down the streets of Konoha, blinded by tears, she had completely forgotten to meet up with Itachi and Shisui at their usual tea shop for breakfast. She couldn’t stop running, she wouldn’t stop running. The pain she felt in her heart made her restless, anxious, unfocused. She was running so fast that her loose hair whipped behind her back, the whistle of the wind in her ears. She could hear her labored breath in between uncontrollable sobs, the effort of her run burning in her muscles. It was getting harder to breathe and she soon stopped, overwhelmed with sadness, a lump in her throat as heavy sobs escaped her mouth. The wind has become suddenly so strong and it made Miyeko’s skin prickle with a shiver as she opened her eyes, desperately trying to calm down from her emotions of sadness. There, in front of her, was a picture of Konoha in all its splendour from high above. In her trance, Miyeko had ran all the way up to the top of the Hokage rock, which oversighted the Village Hidden in the Leaf, its carved heads keeping a close watch on its citizens. As she wiped the constant flow of tears rolling down her face, Miyeko approached the precipice, looking down at a hundred feet high sheer drop from above. 

A sudden wave of vertigo hit her entire body as she stepped back in a panic, falling on the ground. That’s when she knew that without her sister to help guide her way, Miyeko was nothing. The thought of being shunned by her beloved older sister was enough to send Miyeko into a convulsion of sobs, her knees to her chest, her arms clinging to her legs. She didn’t have the strength to contain her crying anymore as she let out a small sob of despair followed by body tremors, indicating just how affected she had been, how scared she had felt. After all that they’ve been through together, after being each other’s pillars for so long, why had Kuri hurt her that way? She felt so alone… until she felt Itachi’s hand on her shoulder, the hand of the boy who promised would be there for her always.

‘Miyeko, what’s going on? Why are you crying?’ he asked, a worried expression on his face. The look in his onyx eyes were the only thing that would soothe her state of mind. He pulled her closer to him as he sat next to her, her head now resting on his shoulders, his long hair brushing against her forehead. She was trembling against him, shaken with tears in her eyes as she looked to him with the saddest of looks, enough to make anyone’s heart ache with empathy. But she remained silent.

There was nothing she could say to him that would fix her broken heart. He then remained there with her as he consoled the small framed kunoichi as she ran his fingers through her hair. It was in times like these that he wished he had her special power to make everything better so he could see her smile again. But today, he would let her let her sadness out as it seemed nothing would be able to stop the flow of her tears and the wisp in her sobs. The he could for her was to stay next to her in silence. There were no words from her. She was as quiet as she had ever been. But Itachi couldn’t contain his silence any longer the minute her saw her injured arm now purple from her encounter with whoever hurt her. His onyx eyes turned crimson at the sign of the blood trickling down her scarred skin. 

‘_Who_ did this to you? I need to know.’ he asked. She didn’t answer, her head still resting on his chest, her eyes closed, tired. He wouldn’t get an answer out of her. She was barely able to breathe properly, and he knew that prying wouldn’t help her in any way. He had been waiting for her at the tea shop with Shisui as the older Uchiha laughed about Itachi being puked on by his baby brother Sasuke when suddenly, Itachi saw a familiar shadow run by the shop like a black arrow, a shadow that he knew too well. Shisui knew something was wrong when Itachi left him in the shop, running outside in a hurry. ‘What’s going on, Itachi?’ he asked tailing the younger Uchiha, worried.

‘I don’t know. I’ll go find out.’ he said before disappearing into the crowded streets of Konoha.

As she sat there, her body against his for support, Itachi couldn’t help but notice the absolute shock and pain in her eyes, on her face. What happened for her to be this destabilized? He’d only seen her like this once, when the masked man slashed her hands and arms open. But this was different. It was different because she faced this alone. There was nothing he could do to help her. Her silence made it worse for him as he was in total ignorance of what caused this. He hated this feeling of powerlessness as she sobbed in his arms. She raised her small hand to her injured arm but knew the only thing that could heal her mind was time. ‘Miyeko, let’s go home, to my house.’ he said. She nodded silently as he took her in his arms and disappeared in a cloud of smoke. 

When she woke up, she was lying in a stranger's room, on a bed. Her arm had been cleaned and bandaged and she had been tucked under a warm blanket. As she slowly began to move, she noticed a small boy next to her with black hair and a warm smile. ‘Miyeko, you’re awake!’ he said. Miyeko managed a smile as he hugged her. ‘Hi, Sasuke.’ she said, her hand patting his head. Sasuke Uchiha had always liked Miyeko and when his big brother Itachi had brought her home in his arms asking for Sasuke’s help. He helped him lie her down on his bed and had crawled next to her to make sure she was protected and safe, a kunai in his hand. 

_‘Listen to me Sasuke.’ He said to his little brother in a very serious tone. ‘I need you to stay with Miyeko. You need to stay with her and protect her if someone comes here to take her, alright?’ he asked the young Uchiha child, who grinned back to him with a thumbs up._

_‘You can count on me, big brother.’ he said as Itachi poked his forehead. ‘I know. Thank you, Sasuke. I’ll be back soon.’ he said, leaving the house in a hurry. _

Sasuke was very different from his older brother in so many ways, thought Miyeko. Since she’d known him, he had been an affectionate, chatty little thing that always had a warm smile on his face and a cheerful expression and pleasant demeanour. He was a sweet-tempered child, so curious, so talented even for his age. As Miyeko sat up on the bed, Sasuke looked at her arm and frowned. ‘Looks like it hurt.’ he said in a quiet voice. The pain was bearable, thought Miyeko. It was her eyes, _the look she gave her _that hurt the most. 

‘It’s just a bruise. It will heal in no time’ she said to him, desperately trying to hide her distress from young boy. She sat on the edge of Itachi’s bed for a while as Sasuke chatted about his day, what he ate, what he liked to draw and how annoying the young girls when he was around, saying they all clung to him for reasons he couldn’t understand. His chattiness was something she had grown to appreciate, especially in times like these, where all her mind wanted to do was to go back to the darkness, to the pain. She liked the kid. He was funny enough. He would often draw pictures for her and she kept them under her bed, back at her house. She had grown very close to Itachi’s family as the months went by. Even Fugaku had warmed up to her, inviting her to the Uchiha residence as often as Itachi would ask him to. If Miyeko had to describe how it felt to have a home, a real home, she would say she felt most as home here, in Itachi’s house with his family. For a moment, she had forgotten what had happened to her. She heard Itachi’s voice in the hall, calling her name. He came in the room and Sasuke ran to him, extending his arms. 

‘Big brother, you’re back!’ he said, wrapping his arms around Itachi, who returned the affection shyly. Itachi smiled. ‘Did you take care of Miyeko, Sasuke?’ he asked. Sasuke nodded and earned a warm pat on the head from Itachi, who looked at his younger brother with pride. ‘You’re a good boy, Sasuke. Now go play.’ he said, giving Sasuke some of his shuriken so the young Uchiha could go practice on the Uchiha training grounds. Sasuke left the room, happy about his new toys. When they were finally alone, Itachi sat down next to Miyeko, who remained as silent as when he found her on the Hokage mountain, her gaze unfocused. He was worried. She was still in shock. He started to feel a heaviness inside of him as he looked at her, her body motionless, her gaze transfixed on the window as she looked outside without a purpose. He put his hand on hers and grabbed her chin with the other, so she was forced to look at him. 

‘Miyeko, talk to me. Say something, _anything_.’ he pleaded, but to no avail. She could only look at him with an empty, soulless expression. She was unable to say anything to him. Her lips wouldn’t move. Her silence was quickly becoming unbearable to him. What was she was so afraid of? She had to snap out of this state of mind. 

Without warning, Itachi pressed his lips against hers as he pulled her against him. Her body posed no resistance to his invitation, but she remained deep in thought and didn’t reciprocate his kiss like last time. Even the intimate act of him kissing her wouldn’t bring her back to her senses. He pulled away, even more worried now that he knew that was literally nothing, he could do to rouse her from her trance. He could feel her tense up, but her mind was inactive, her eyes looking around to find nothing. It wasn’t Genjutsu, he thought. She would have pulled herself out of the illusion by now. Her wound didn’t seem poisoned. What could it be? What was going on in her head? What could he do? 

He heard a loud noise downstairs and he knew it couldn’t be Sasuke from the sound of the urgency. ‘I’ll be back, Miyeko.’ he said, letting go of her hand, exiting the room to leave her alone, sitting on his bed, silent. He heard the main door of the house open violently, crashing against the wall as Itachi came down the stairs to meet his father’s look.

‘Itachi. I need you to stay here and keep her safe. The Police Force has been summoned by the ANBU and the Hokage to the Nagaki household. Someone put their house on fire.’ Itachi’s expression soured. ‘Wha- What?’ he managed to say, his fist clenching. Fugaku sighed.

‘You’ll need to be strong for her Itachi. I’m assembling the clan’s forces and requested to have a warrant to have access to the crime scene. But I can’t intervene until I have a warrant from the Lord Danzo. He’s saying it’s too dangerous to go in...’ Itachi’s eyes turned crimson. He was angry.

‘What about her parents? Where are they? What about her sister?’ he asked. Fugaku slowly looked away, not wanting to meet his son’s gaze.

‘There was no sign of Kuri Nagaki the Shadow Dweller being in the house. She was scheduled for a routine mission and is probably out of the village as of now. But her parents… they had returned home shortly before the fire started. The witness to the crime heard screams inside the house, Itachi. They were burned alive.’ he said, stoic.

Itachi took a step back, shocked. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Burned… burned alive? He couldn’t believe it. He wouldn’t believe it. Who would do such a thing? His immediate thought turned to Miyeko, who was still sitting on his bed, unable to speak. He would have to be there for her, not only for emotional support, but to stop her from doing something rash, something stupid in the heat of her despair. He quickly ran upstairs and swung his room door open to find his room silent and static. He looked around in a panic but couldn’t find her. His window had been opened. Miyeko had heard everything, he thought. She was gone. 

Miyeko’s mind went blank as she ran into the direction of her house, the house where she gre up in. She could see the black smoke in the sky as she saw her house burning in the distance. Nothing was going to stop her race to the only place she could return to after a long day of training, after tiring mission, where she and her sister used to sit to talk to all evening long, where she had once been happy. She couldn’t see anyone on the road to her house, the surroundings completely deserted. The road to her lands were burning as well, the trees surrounding the burning house had also caught fire, it seemed. A hot gust of wind blew on Miyeko’s skin. She ignored the pain and threw herself forward, her feet barely tapping the ground as she leapt into the air. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she finally reached the gateway leading to the burning white house that once stood high and proud. The flames were raging as she stepped to get closer to the scene, the light from the fire temporarily blinding her. 

The smoke was very thick, and it filled her lungs as she tried to cough it out, without success. Her parents. Her mother. Her father. They had been trapped inside. The thought sent horror chills down Miyeko’s spine. More tears drowned her face as she fell to her knees, gripped by sadness and sorrow, angry screams escaping her mouth. They didn’t deserve to die like this, she thought. She was now haunted by visions of her parents slowly burning to a crisp, their skin melting off their bones as they screamed in pain, screamed for help that never came. Why did this have to happen…? She reached for a kunai knife on her pouch and slashed her leg with it, hoping the illusion would be released. But nothing happened. The fire was still raging in front of her, the blood pooling on her thigh. This was all real. All of it. The pain never felt more real to her than it did now. 

A sudden thought crossed her mind. Why wasn’t Kuri here? Where was her sister? The smoke was now so dark that she couldn’t see anything clearly anymore as the fire took all her memories with it. Breathing became painful. Miyeko rose up to her feet again but fell back from the exhaustion. She was trapped in a situation she couldn’t escape. Her parents were dead. Her sister hated her. There was nothing else she could hold on too. Nothing except… No, she wouldn’t bring Itachi into this. She sighed. She knew what she wanted to do and found the strength to get up once again and looked at the fire that took her childhood, her life away. She wanted to go with it too. She was resolute. There was no other way for her, no point in living anymore. Everything she had known, she had lost. This wretched life of hers wouldn’t be a burden for much longer now, which was the only thought that lessen the pain. She hoped… She hoped Kuri would be able to forgive her for what she was about to do... 

As she walked towards the all-consuming flames, she heard a thump behind her. She turned around and froze. A figure knelt behind her, blood covering its skin, its clothes. A long mane of white hair had been tainted red with blood as the young woman fell to the ground in a pool of blood. Miyeko screamed in horror and ran to Kuri, who was now lying on the ground as the wound on her chest was gushing out blood.

‘_No, no, no…_’ mumbled Miyeko in a panic, her voice shaking with uncontrollable sobs as she knelt to heal her older sister, a gleam of chakra escaping her hands as she rushed to heal the older Nagaki sister’s wounds. There was so much blood, Miyeko thought. She couldn’t heal her wounds fast enough. She was beginning to truly panic when she saw a pool of red flood her sister’s beautiful white hair. Her sister’s face was twisting in pain as Miyeko tried insignificantly to save her sister’s life. The hot blood on her hands made her tremble. 

‘Miyeko, stop…’ she heard Kuri say in a weak whisper. 

‘No, I need to try harder… I-I need to save you…’ whimpered Miyeko, who focused her energy once again to try to heal the gaping hole in Kuri’s chest. Kuri slowly raised her hand to grab Miyeko’s and pushed it away from her. 

‘Stop. It’s no use. You… you need to listen to me now, we don’t have much time… Come over here.’ she said, her voice weakening. Miyeko let out a sob as she listened to her older sister, approaching Kuri with care. She had to lean in very close to even hear Kuri speak as the flames raged behind them. Kuri cold hand touched Miyeko’s face, wiping away her warm tears. Kuri smiled. This was a smile Miyeko recognized. It was the smile she used to give Miyeko after her training sessions, the smile she gave her when they spoke over a warm cup of tea during their mid-afternoon chat sessions. Miyeko loved that smile because it was warm and genuine. 

‘Miyeko… I’m _so_ sorry. About everything…’ she said, tears forming in her eyes. Miyeko shook her head. 

‘No, Kuri. None of this matter now. Don’t apologize.’ she said in between loud sobs, her body trembling, tears falling on Kuri’s face as her face hovered over her older sister’s. Kuri was so weak that she couldn’t even raise a hand to pat her sister on the head anymore, as she so often did in the past.

‘Miyeko, I’m not going to lie to you... I’m dying.’ she said, her pained expression now stoic. Miyeko screamed and screamed, shaking her head. _‘No!’_ Kuri frowned as she let out a groan from the pain in her chest.

‘But before I do so, there’s something… there’s something I _must_ do.’ she said, her breathing labored. The smoke was getting into her lungs at an alarming rate. ‘Take my hand… Quick.’ she said. Miyeko executed herself, restraining the sad sobs from escaping her lips. ‘Put… put my hand on your forehead, Miyeko. Do it…’ she asked.

Miyeko grabbed her sister’s delicate hand and held it so her palm could touch her forehead. Kuri’s weak chakra felt so warm to Miyeko and before she knew it, Kuri had mumbled something intelligible, an inaudible incantation before her hand dropped to the ground again as Kuri coughed up blood. Miyeko’s heart stopped. This couldn’t be happening. She saw the inkling of a smile on her sister’s face as a hot sensation of burning crawled under her skin. Was the fire from the burning house getting at her skin? No, that wasn’t it. Something else was happening to her. It was painful, like a thousand needle pricking at her skin. She closed her eyes shut, her mouth opened in agony. But she wouldn’t look away from Kuri. She refused to look away. As Kuri took one last glance at her younger sister, she managed a smile, the warmest smile Miyeko had ever seen on her face. That seemed to have stopped the pain, even if it was just momentarily. Kuri took one last breath and opened her mouth, her voice raspy from the inhaling of the smoke. 

‘I love you, my sweet sister… I’ll always be with you. There will be people… that will try to harm you… But… I’ll always be there… to protect you… One day, you’ll understand… Never forget… who you are…’ Kuri had stopped talking, her empty gaze staring into nothingness as her heart stopped beating. Miyeko screamed. There was nothing else that stopped her now. She screamed until her ears couldn’t take the sound of her pain anymore. **_‘NO!’ _**She grabbed her sister’s inert body, pulling her in a tight embrace, her cold skin contrasting against Miyeko’s burning flesh. Everything inside her felt scorched as she let go of her pain. She was burning from the roots of her hair to the ends of her toes, but she didn’t care anymore. _She didn’t care anymore._ She had lost _everything_.

As she let the surrounding energy around her invade her chakra flow, she heard a sinister voice from the burning forest, an evil laugh that would torture Miyeko’s mind for years to come. She slowly raised her head. A dark silhouette appeared through the smoke as it walked over to her, a silhouette with pale skin and yellow, snake like eyes staring right into her very soul. More men gathered around him as they all walked towards her, kunai knives in their hands.

‘That’s what you get when you steal forbidden knowledge from me_._’ said the sinister man, his longue tongue bulging out of his mouth. They were here for her. Miyeko could feel it emanating from them. She felt everything around her, absolutely everything as her senses picked up on the murderous intent in the snake man’s eyes.

A sudden rush of chakra exploded out of her as she couldn’t control her anger anymore. He was _responsible_ for all of this. He had murdered her family, burned her home, destroyed her life. She crouched over Kuri’s dead body and slowly walked towards them, her hands balled into enraged fists. She could feel something rise in her, something that took ever her. _She let it_. She had nothing to lose anymore from blocking the invading chakra from overtaking her own. It wanted to be release. It _demanded _to be released. Miyeko couldn’t really see what was happening anymore as her vision blurred, but as she let herself succumb to the darkness inside, she saw a sudden expression of fear in snake man’s henchmen’s faces. They were frozen in fear as she saw, on the ground, the shadow of something growing out of her body, something monstrous that had escaped from her and it flew straight towards the perpetrators. Demon auras and shadows crawled out of a black cloak of chakra that had enveloped her body as they ran towards her enemies, tearing them limb from limb like wild animals. Blood. Blood everywhere. She could smell it. She could _feel_ it. She needed more. **More**. As she heard her enemies scream in pain, a plead was heard through the black smoke of the fire. 

‘Please, please don’t kill me!’ she heard on the henchmen say. He was lying on the ground, on the verge of death. Miyeko slowly walked towards him and knelt, her face hovering over him. She took a good look at his face as her stoic expression slowly turned into an evil smile. The man saw nothing but pain and bloodlust in her eyes, phantom hands crawling out of her chakra cloak as the ghostly apparitions gripped onto his injured skin. There was nothing stopping her now. The only picture she saw was one where she painted their faces with blood. As her demonic summoning ripped him and his men apart, she could hear him scream. **_‘Shi-Shinigami!’_**

**…**

The smoke eventually cleared as Fugaku Uchiha searched the burned soil for the younger girl. His Sharingan pierced through the dense layer of smoke as he picked up movement to his right. The scene he saw, he would hardly ever be able to forget. As he blocked the mental images of the bloodbath that had occurred here, he noticed the body of Kuri Nagaki on the ground, inert, pale, dead. He sighed. His worst fears had come to reality. He could only look for Miyeko’s body now, hoping she had survived whatever gruesome scenario happened here. As he walked amongst bodies, Fugaku saw a small silhouette lying on the ground, the small inert body of his son’s best friend, Miyeko Nagaki. She was covered with blood. He ran to her and picked her up, examining the small girl he was holding. He gasped as she let out a weak cough from inhaling the arson’s smoke. She was alive! ‘Chief Fugaku! _You found her!_’ exclaimed his captain behind him.

‘I’ll bring her to the hospital. Find out what happened here… I don’t know _what_ did this, but it wasn’t human.’ he said as he ran towards Konoha’s hospital with Miyeko in his arms as he pushed a single white strand of pure white hair from her brow.


	8. The Act of Resilience

> You're such a child. You talk of nothing but pipe dreams... there are times when people must make painful choices.

The Third Hokage hadn’t slept in three days. His eyes were itchy, and he knew that if closed them for a mere minute, he’d fall prey to sleep. It was very late at night and the sky grew darker. It had been a long day for the ruling figurehead of the Hidden Leaf as he glanced outside his window, admiring the nightlife of Konoha. The old man sighed. He couldn’t possibly have foreseen the tragedy that had occurred today, within the village’s walls on an almost extinct clan that left only one standing, a child of ten, left all alone to fend for herself in the world. His thoughts were interrupted by his office door opening, revealing another elderly man who slowly walked behind him. The elderly shinobi had a battered-up appearance, with a loose kimono that covered the bandages wrapped all around his body, from his legs to half of his face. As he walked towards Hiruzen Sarutobi, Danzo Shimura’s eyes stared at the same view through the window, a stoic expression on his face.

‘The scene had been cleaned. Nothing remains.’ he said. The Third Hokage sighed again, a tinge of sadness in his eyes. How could such a horrific thing happen to his village, to the place he vowed to protect and help prosper?

‘What do we know about this incident? Someone must know something about it.’ said the elderly Hokage, visibly shaken by the bloody tragedy that occurred in his village. Today, he had lost more than just respected citizens. He lost valuable comrades and saw a revered clan of the Hidden Leaf Village reduced to almost extinction. Danzo remained silent. ‘What about the perpetrators?’ asked the elderly Hokage, worry in his voice.

‘The bodies found on the premise were in such a state that it is impossible to identify the victims. Their faces were torn to shreds, their skin peeled off of their bones. The only thing found near the body of the Shadow Dweller was this.’ he said, reaching deep into his kimono’s pocket, taking out something that gave Hiruzen Sarutobi a blood-chilling shiver. _A white snake’s skin_. Hiruzen grabbed the evil memento and crushed it in his hands as he let out a growl.

‘_That Orochimaru…!_’ he said, pain in his voice. ‘Hunt him down. I want him alive.’ he said, letting the dead animal skin fall to the ground, a tear running down his weathered face. Danzo sighed.

‘I already sent a Root platoon after him, Lord Hokage. I got a report from my team before coming here that Orochimaru has already crossed the Fire Lands lines into Rain Country. We have no jurisdiction there, as you may know. We wouldn’t want to start another war for… _this_.’ he said, his voice quiet and assured to Hiruzen’s annoyance. ‘Konoha’s Police Force and the Torture and Interrogation Force have been deployed to investigate. The arson was violent, and it burned everything to a crisp. Whatever clues we had to lead us in the right direction were burned, disposed of. The only piece of evidence we have left… is the _girl_.’ he said, a sharp look in his eyes.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was an old man, he knew it. He was no fool and knew that he wasn’t in the best of physical condition. But he was still the Hokage of this village and he would protect Miyeko Nagaki, the sole survivor of the Nagaki clan if that’s the last thing he ever did. He turned around to Danzo and gave a single look, a look that even Danzo had to learn to fear throughout the years. ‘_No one_ is laying a hand on that child.’ he said, his voice calm and menacing. Danzo clutched to his cane as he rose a hand to brush hair out of his eyes. Danzo insisted, almost as if he wanted the Third Hokage to crack, to lose his temper.

‘You and I have had our fair share of ideological differences in the past, Hiruzen, but I have a suspicion that Orochimaru has implicitly or explicitly conducted experiments on the Nagaki kunoichis and that could prove detrimental to the Village’s safety. You know I have jurisdiction over this_ kind_ of matter...’ said Danzo, who had seemed to have crossed a line with the Hokage as the elderly shinobi grabbed the Root commander by the neck, inches away from crushing the other man’s throat. ‘It doesn’t matter what you say now, Lord Hokage… I will get to… the bottom of this...’ Managed Danzo, out of breath and in pain.

‘I swear to you Danzo, if you touch a single hair on this girl’s head…’ He was interrupted by a loud thump as a cloud of smoke revealed Fugaku Uchiha, the chief of Konoha’s Police Force standing in the middle of the room.

‘Am I interrupting something, Lord Hokage?’ Fugaku seemed tired, sporting heavy bags under his eyes. He also had been preoccupied with the Nagaki clan incident and has been especially invested in what had happened to Kuri Nagaki and her younger sister Miyeko, who Itachi has been so attached to. He couldn’t lie to himself, the gruesome discovery his Force made on the Nagaki grounds had been nothing but traumatizing for his men and for himself as well. He was a man of experience, a man who has seen his share of battles and bloodshed on duty. But this… this was a completely different matter. The terror he saw on his men’s faces when they uncovered the bodies of the criminals, or what was left of them anyway, had engraved a picture of absolute horror in his mind, something he would probably never forget until the day he died. While he brought the young Nagaki survivor to the village’s hospital, his men had uncovered another piece of evidence on the crime scene, in the house’s debris. A single black scroll that had been burned to near-nothingness.

Hiruzen had let go of Danzo’s throat, regaining his legendary composure. It was unfitting for him to lose his temper in such a way, but Danzo knew exactly what buttons to push for the elder Hokage to want to rip the other elderly to shreds. He grabbed the scroll out of Fugaku Uchiha’s hands and inspected it closer. He couldn’t recall this Ninjutsu scroll as it wasn’t part of his personal collection. Who could this scroll belong to? His thoughts revolved around the clues he had in his possession: the white snakeskin and the burned scroll. He unrolled the ashy scroll meticulously and narrowed his tired and aging eyes to attempt to read its content. Most of the scribbles in it were unintelligible and couldn’t make sense of the writings in it. He soon recognized the handwriting: it was his old pupil Orochimaru’s. The intricate lettering was proof of it as he had seen so many scrolls written by his old student. He knew he couldn’t be wrong. The content was missing due to the fire. The fact that Orochimaru’s snakeskin was found on the Nagaki grounds was enough for the Hokage to come to an alarming conclusion. The ninjutsu scroll belonged to him, to the snake Sannin of the Village Hidden in the Leaf.

‘This… this belonged to _him_, Fugaku. To Orochimaru…’ said the Third Hokage, his voice trembling. He cleared his throat. ‘I suppose you were aware of what he was studying in the many laboratories he ran outside the village… right?’ asked the Hokage only to receive a confused look from the Uchiha man. Danzo remained silent. Fugaku sighed.

‘Very uncivilized human experimentations. Yes, I’ve heard. Lord Hokage, do you think this scroll could be… a forbidden Jutsu he developed from his experimentations?’ he said, crossing his arms with a worried look on his face. Danzo stepped towards the Uchiha man, a grave look in his eye.

‘It’s more than likely, Chief Fugaku. After all, Orochimaru always was the _curious _kind of individual.’ he said, his voice trailing, creating an atmosphere of unease between the three men. Fugaku frowned, thinking deeply. ‘Then _why_ would this be in the possession of the Nagaki clan? He asked, angrily squeezing the burned scroll in his hand.

The Third Hokage seemed very uncomfortable as he paced back in forth in his office. He was angry with himself, angry that he hadn’t been fast enough to prevent this situation, angry that he couldn’t stop his old student from deviating towards the darkest path a shinobi could follow. He knew the way he had with people, how he looked like a savior to some and a calamity to others. What business did he have with the Nagaki clan, with the Shadow Dweller? He didn’t like where his thoughts were going. He had heard that Orochimaru had an unhealthy obsession with bloodline limits since childhood, but Hiruzen never thought that Orochimaru was twisted enough to _kill _someone to get closer to the truth of them and their effects on the chosen’s bodies and chakra. He knew, deep down, that he had the answer to the question on Fugaku’s lips. He knew Danzo knew it too. If this story ever came out… if the word that the Nagaki sisters were involved in a forbidden Jutsu experiment was be disclosed to the public, it would ruin the Nagaki clan’s reputation and the Village’s. He _couldn’t_ do that. As Hokage, his first duty was the protection of the Village and its citizens, even silencing a treasonous, murderous act.

‘There could be a hundred reasons why Orochimaru targeted the Nagaki clan, Fugaku. What’s important now is to protect the last remaining member of this clan and to provide all the support the young Miyeko needs…’ he said, a hint of sadness in his tone. Danzo broke his silence in a fury.

‘_Protect her_? You know _what _she is, now! Don’t deny it Hiruzen! Look at what happened to these men! You can’t tell me that she isn’t dangerous for the people of Konoha.’ he said, his uncovered eye gleaming with anger. Hiruzen growled angrily as he slammed his fist on his desk.

‘She didn’t ask for this, Danzo! Whatever connects Orochimaru, Kuri Nagaki, and Miyeko… whatever happened to her is not her fault! The child is innocent!’ he said, his chakra surging. Fugaku remained silent and calm as he didn’t want to agitate the two most powerful men in Konoha beyond the apparent discord between both.

‘She is a disease, the result of a forbidden Jutsu. And I believe the fault is not solely Orochimaru’s.’ said Danzo, infuriating Hiruzen beyond words. He couldn’t mean…!

‘Are you implying that the Shadow Dweller performed a forbidden Jutsu on her younger sister, Danzo?’ asked the Third Hokage with venom in his words, ice in his voice. Danzo chuckled in response.

‘Of course, that’s what I think, you old fool. And we have proof.’ he said, looking at Fugaku with a sly look in his eye. Fugaku knew exactly what Lord Danzo meant. Miyeko Nagaki’s hair. The single strand of white hair… Fugaku felt ashamed that he even mentioned it to the elder. He didn’t think anything of it hours ago… How could this be?

‘I have reason to believe that the Shadow Dweller stole forbidden knowledge from Orochimaru, transferred her bloodline limit abilities to Miyeko Nagaki, and tried to erase evidence of her crime by setting her own house on fire after Orochimaru sought his revenge on her clan. She was fatally injured and transmitted her bloodline abilities to her already Senjutsu sensitive, dark chakra user younger sister before dying. Do you realize the implication of this experiment? Hiruzen, we cannot let this- this _thing _roam free on the streets of Konoha. My conscience will not allow it!’ he said firmly, raising his hand to signal his ANBU Black Ops platoon, but Fugaku Uchiha grabbed his arm, a menacing shade of crimson in his eyes. Danzo’s black orbs met the Uchiha Chief’s Sharingan eyes as the Third Hokage remained silent, in shock.

‘You will not take her, Lord Danzo.’ he stated, his voice clear and firm. Danzo chuckled.

‘And what power do you have over me on this matter as Chief of Police?’ he asked as his resisted Fugaku’s growing grip.

‘As Chief of Police, I have no say. But as Head of the Uchiha Clan, I refuse to let you take her.’ he said, his eyes narrowed on Danzo. Fugaku wished he had a more legitimate reason than to protect his son’s best friend, but envisioning Itachi’s devastation as Root called to exterminate, to _eradicate_ the only thing his older son seemed to care about was too much for Fugaku to bear. He was a shinobi, it’s true. But he was first and foremost a father that cared deeply for his family and his clan. He would offer protection to the stranger named Miyeko Nagaki that came into his son’s life and changed him from being a sheltered, anti-social, silent child to a happy young man. No amount of talk of forbidden experimentation and eradication would change the fact that it wasn’t Miyeko’s abilities that changed Itachi but her heart.

‘Lord Hokage, I demand that Miyeko Nagaki be safeguarded under the Village’s Clan Protection Act. As you may know already, the Head of a Clan, under the Act, can assume the full responsibility of an individual’s safety and wellbeing as a member of his or her own clan as long as the Hokage deems it legitimate.’ explained Fukagu, deactivating his Sharingan. Hiruzen sighed as Danzo snarled angrily.

‘You lowly, traitorous Uchiha _scum_! How dare you put my home in danger like this! You and your clan have nothing to win other this. You’ll just make it worse for yourselves, mark my words. I won’t have this, Hiruzen. Not from _him_. Not from _them_.’ he said, slamming his cane on the Hokage’s office floor, denting the wood in anger.

Hiruzen sighed as a weight on his shoulder disappeared. ‘You can’t fight it, Danzo.’ concluded, sitting back in his seat. ‘Miyeko has been spoken for by a clan leader. No elder can go against a clan leader’s will, in this circumstance. Breaking that Act… would definitely start a war with the Uchiha that Root is just not ready to handle.’ said the elderly Hokage, knowing perfectly well that his decision would prove to be very troublesome in the near future. But Miyeko’s immediate safety from Danzo was worth the trouble he would run into with him and the elders later. Danzo growled as the elderly’s blood boiled in his vain. He approached Fugaku, a sinister look in his eyes.

‘Since I cannot say anything as of her _permanent_ removal from this village… I will accept nothing less from you, Lord Hokage, than your decision to remove her out of our home until… well, until her abilities are better managed and understood. She can’t stay here.’ demanded Danzo, irritating the Uchiha clansman as he gave the elder a resentful look.

‘Where is she supposed to go? She’s a child! She’s all alone! She is hurting inside, Lord Hokage! She needs support, not seclusion! Her world has just turned upside down... Lord Hokage, I can manage with the girl-’ but he was interrupted by Danzo once again.

‘No, Fugaku. I know it sounds harsh, but Danzo is right. The best for the village as of now is to send Miyeko Nagaki away until she can control her Senjutsu and… other unknown abilities.’ But Danzo wasn’t satisfied with the present situation. He _would_ dictate his terms, no matter what.

‘I don’t care where she goes. Send her to the combat-stricken Village Hidden in the Mist for all I care, I want her to disappear until… well, until it is deemed safe. We don’t need an uncontrollable Shinigami rampaging and killing valuable citizens of the village. When she comes back docile and trained, we can use her for Konoha’s greater good, but until then… I’ll make sure to send her away with one of my officers for supervision.’ he stated firmly. This time, the Hokage couldn’t argue with Danzo. He had to give him something to calm him down or he’d surely bring about a civil war within Konoha’s walls, something the Hokage couldn’t abide by. Danzo always ended up having his way, one way or another, thought the Hokage. Even the mighty Fugaku Uchiha wouldn’t be able to have the last word. But Hiruzen knew Danzo better than most. He knew exactly how to play this hand he was given.

‘No need to burden one of your shinobi for this, Lord Danzo. I have the perfect sensei candidate for her… _secluded training_. There is one person in this world I trust with my life when it comes to training pupils. I’ll send him right away.’ Danzo laughed as Fugaku gave the Hokage a confused look.

‘You can’t mean Jiraiya, Lord Hokage? As talented as he is, he couldn’t possibly-’

‘Jiraiya is the best Senjutsu user this world has ever seen, Danzo. He trained the Fourth Hokage and groomed him to become one of this village’s most prized shinobi. He is one of the Legendary Sannin, and an old student of mine and the only shinobi that can protect this child against Orochimaru and his evilness. His personal habits may be... _questionable_, but I trust Jiraiya more than I trust myself with the handling of this child. She will go with him and that is final.’ he said as he finished writing his summoning scroll and attached it to his hawk’s leg as the bird flew in the night, disappearing into the darkness.

‘You are dismissed until further notice, the both of you.’ said the Hokage, visibly tired, his voice raspy and deep. As Danzo vanished in the darkness of the outside hall, Fugaku couldn’t help but voice his worries.

‘Lord Hokage, my intention was not to question your decision. I’m just- my family has grown accustomed to her. The death of her older sister Kuri was horrific enough for us… Did you know of her relationship with my nephew Shisui? These two were so close... I already have a broken heart to try to mend, sir, please don’t ask me to break my son’s heart too. Miyeko Nagaki is important to him. I don’t know when this all happened or how, but only the blind could ignore her positive influence on him. They’re inseparable... My wife has a soft spot for her, she regards her almost as a daughter… She’s grown very close to my sons and family… she is part of my clan, now. Isn’t it enough to make her stay?’ he pleaded, touting at the Hokage’s emotions. It had been a while since the Uchiha clan had stepped outside of their own social circle to let someone in, thought the Hokage. Hiruzen rose from his seat and walked towards Fugaku and put a hand on his shoulder. The Hokage knew that Fugaku was a passionate man when it came to his clan and that the Uchiha clan was already in a precarious social situation in Konoha. As much as he wanted to comfort the Head of the Uchiha clan, the Hokage was unable to give him the answer he wanted.

‘I’m sorry Fugaku. I can’t risk an internal war, not after what happened today… You should understand most of all how precarious the village’s unity is right now… This is not to harm you or your clansmen, Fugaku. This is to appease a man that I cannot control, to quiet the rumors about the child, and to protect the village. You cannot do anything to change how things will ensue. This is Konoha’s jurisdiction. The Uchiha need to step down.’ he said, earning a look of disgust from the Police Chief as he returned to his seat. This was just one more thing to add to the list of betrayals against the Uchiha clan, thought Fugaku. He pursed his lips in anger, his fists clenched. He would make them pay for everything, vowed Fugaku. One day, they would learn to fear his clan and to give them the respect the Uchiha deserves. But for now, he had to close his investigation and regroup with his team. Fugaku could only regret this unfortunate conversation as he disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Finally, the Third Hokage was alone, but his mind wouldn’t quiet down. That poor child… The path to recovery she was on was one of pain, anger, and sorrow. She couldn’t know the truth. Not now. She needed to heal far, far away from here. Hiruzen lowered his head. The pain she would have to bear in her heart for the rest of her life was more than what the Hokage could manage for himself in his tired state. The Third Hokage was an old man, but a man still. Under his Hokage attire, he was a being of flesh, blood and emotions that duty often made people forget about. He himself even forgot about it sometimes. A soft sniffle could be heard across the hall as he closed his office door until morning.

**…**

Miyeko could hear the soft rain pouring down against her hospital room’s window as she opened her eyes. Her body ached and her head throbbed, but she was alive. She tried to remember how she got here but all she could see was… fire and blood. She could still smell the burnt debris of her house, the scorched soil, the blood on the ground as her sister bled to death. Her parents, her sister… they were gone. She looked at her still blood-stained hands and remembered how pretty her sister’s face had been and how twisted in pain and fear it was when she passed away. Everything she knew was gone. She could feel an indescribable weight on her chest as she swallowed to get rid of the lump in her throat. She felt so heavy and so weak. She could feel a weight on her legs as she looked down to see someone’s head resting on them. Itachi Uchiha had fallen asleep on the edge of her bed, his arms folded under his head as he had kept a watch on her. His long strands of black hair covered his face but Miyeko could see just how tired he was as she noticed the bags under his eyes, behind that veil of black hair.

‘I-Itachi?’ she croaked, her voice still raspy from the smoke of the arson. His body stiffened as he woke up in a jolt of surprise, his onyx eyes staring straight at her.

‘Miyeko, you’re awake.’ His hands reached for hers as he laced his fingers with hers. She tried to pull herself up but fell back instantly, hair long hair falling on her face. ‘Please don’t. You’re too weak yet.’ he said, pushing the long strands of hair out of Miyeko’s face. His hand suddenly stopped moving as he brushed the white strand of hair that had stuck to Miyeko’s face. Miyeko rose a hand and grabbed the white hair with her fingers, inspecting it meticulously. This… this wasn’t hers. She could never… _This wasn’t hers_. It was her sister’s. The locks of snow-white hair that had appeared on her head… Tears formed in her itchy eyes as she remembered just how pretty her sister’s hair was as the light reflected on it as it did on snow in winter. Miyeko couldn’t remove pictures of Kuri’s smile from her mind as heavy tears rolled on her cheeks. Her laugh haunted her thoughts. But those happy memories were soon replaced with sorrow as she couldn’t shake away the images of her dying sister as her house burned behind her. As her breathing became erratic with sobs, Miyeko couldn’t help but cry out in pain as Itachi held her in his arms.

‘She’s gone, Itachi… They’re gone… I couldn’t save them! Why did they have to die? _Why?_’ she cried against his chest, her body convulsing with pain.

Itachi was a shinobi. He knew a ninja was only a tool and that shinobi weren’t supposed to cry or show emotion. But today, Itachi didn’t care about the rules. He didn’t care about what people’s expectations were of him. He climbed onto the bed and sat next to Miyeko as he held her in his arms, supporting her physically and emotionally wrecked body, his hands resting on her back.

‘Let it out.’ he told her. ‘You can’t hold this kind of sadness inside, Miyeko. I’ll be your pillar. Lean on me. I'm here.’ he said. He had never heard such screams. His skin arched as her nails dug into his skin, her shrills of sorrow echoing in the room. He could feel the dampness of his shirt as her tears fell on the fabric. She was clinging so tightly to him he thought as if she was scared that if she let go, she would fall into an abyss and never be able to come back. Her tiny body pressed against him and he could feel her ragged little breaths in between harsh sobs from her chest. He closed his eyes as he felt immense sadness from her mourning laments.

Everything she felt from her body, Itachi felt through him. It ran under his skin and in his bones. How he wished he could take it all away for her. How he wished he could take the burden of her pain onto him. He’d never seen someone so unhappy, so heartbroken. Itachi couldn’t fathom what she went through and just how horrible he would feel if it ever happened to him. To lose your parents, your siblings, everything you hold dear in your heart… The thought of it plunged Itachi’s thoughts in a desolate state and sent a tinge of pain in his chest. He promised himself on that day that if this were to happen to his family, he would support Sasuke, be there for him so he would never be a witness to this kind of sorrow. As she began to relax from exhaustion, Itachi ran his fingers through her hair to help her calm down. At that moment, Itachi realized that behind all her skills, all her genius, all her achievements, Miyeko was just a girl. Life was so unfair, he thought. Why did she have to go through this? Who did this to her and how could he make it better for her? What was the meaning of life and death? 

‘I did this, Itachi… The blood on my hands, I spilled it. I was so scared… I couldn’t control myself… I killed them all.’ she said, her body still affected his grief, her hands trembling. Itachi had heard from his father’s subordinates that a monster had killed the men found on the Nagaki clan’s land. They had mentioned that the monster that wrecked an entire platoon of highly skilled ninjas, the perpetrators from the newly formed Sound Village, had committed horrible killings, beyond anyone’s imagination. They couldn’t mean Miyeko, did they? The way his father’s men spoke about her… a demon, they called her. Something so inhuman, so cruel and vile… He had felt the fear in their voice. How could she have done it? Her confession took him aback. ‘I don’t know what happened to me, Itachi, I lost control. I let _it_ consume me.’ she said, her body still pressed against his, seeking comfort.

‘_It? _What do you mean?’ he asked, his voice quiet and calm. She sighed.

‘Hate.’ It was true, what her sister said about her. If Miyeko ever let the energy around her overtake her… she had no idea it would have driven her to absolute bloodthirsty madness. There were no words for the shame she felt.

‘I can only remember a man’s eyes… yellow and cold as he laughed while he escaped. His men… they came for me. And inside me, something snapped, Itachi. Something I _let_ take over and… I’m afraid it’ll happen again. I’m afraid it’ll happen when I’m with you… I won’t let this happen.’ she said, planting a kiss on his forehead as she released him from her embrace, pushing him away. Miyeko couldn’t afford to lose him too. He was too precious to her. She had grown so attached to him, to his smile. Their connection was so strong… she was unwilling to damage it with her rage. To protect him, to protect the boy she had fallen in love with, she would have to distance herself from him even though he was what she needed the most in her life in that instant. As tears formed in her tired eyes she turned her head away from him. She couldn't show weakness to him. Not anymore.

‘You need you to leave, Itachi. I can’t risk hurting you.’ she said as he removed himself from her side, obviously shaken and upset. Why was she pushing him away? He remained silent. His heart ached with a pain he had never felt before. Why was she doing this?

‘I- I don’t understand, Miyeko. Why are you-’ His sentence was cut short as she glared at him, a look he wished he had never seen in her eyes.

‘Go to your family. I don’t want to talk to you anymore. I don’t want to see you anymore. **_Leave!_**’ She said, knowing very well her hurtful words would be the only thing that would convince him that she wasn’t good for him, that the risk was too high for them to continue being friends. She refused to let what happened to her happen to Sasuke. Itachi was the most precious thing she had left in this world and she would protect him, even if it meant from herself. She was determined to keep him safe, even if it broke what was left of her heart, which was already in pieces. His pain-stricken expression and his tearful look almost broke her resolve as it was evident he resented her decision. She turned her face away from him, shielding herself from his gaze.

Itachi was standing at the edge of her bed, his heart aching. He was at a loss for words. His heart had skipped a beat when she raised her voice, telling him to leave. Her words echoed in his head. He could hear his heartbeat in his ears. He couldn’t stop looking at her, staring straight into her eyes as tears rolled down her rosy cheeks. Couldn’t she see what she was doing to him? Couldn’t she see that he was ready to share her pain so that she wouldn’t be alone to face her fears, that she could go on living here, with him? Couldn’t she see that the simple fact of him thinking about never talking to her again would make him mad with solitude? They had always been able to communicate silently, knowing exactly what the other was thinking with the simplest of look. So why couldn’t she see in his eyes his plea for her to stay with him? Itachi knew he was a deeply flawed individual, he was scrawny, he was shy, he was awkward and silent, but… he had changed because of her. He was different when he was with her… dare he say happy? In his already messed up shinobi life, she was one of the only things that made sense, that _fit_.

He was still too young to understand what he was feeling inside and lacked the emotional maturity he needed to tell her all that was hidden in his heart and hoped that his damned eyes would be able to deliver the simple truth to her: he_ loved_ her. He cared so much for her and yet… the words wouldn’t come out of his mouth. All he could do was stand before her, vulnerable, as if his body was frozen in time as she turned away from him, her back now facing him, her hair softly falling on her eyes, hiding her face from him. He took a step back and stumbled, his back now against the hospital room’s wall. All he could do now was to leave. Leave, she had said to him, pushing him away forever. As he took one last look at her, he couldn’t help but remember the vision he had of her, the vision of their grown selves being happy together in the bright sun, sharing a sweet frozen treat in the middle of summer on her house’s front porch.

‘Remember that vision I shared with you, Miyeko? Remember what you asked me in the Forest of Death, about the meaning of that vision?’ he asked. She didn’t move nor replied. She just listened, her eyes closed, unwilling to look at him.‘You asked me if that was our future and I told you that I didn’t know, back then. I finally have an answer for you.’ he said, his voice trembling. There was no sign of acknowledgment from her, not even a slight nod of the head.

‘It could have been our future if… if we hadn’t become shinobi. It could have been us if only we had chosen to live without the burden of others' hate resting on our shoulders. It could have been us if only… if only…’ but his sadness got his tongue-tied as he ran outside the room, leaving a broken Miyeko to silently cry against her pillow, alone and afraid of the uncertainty of what was to come without ever seeing his face, his warm smile, his kind-spirited expression, his beautiful onyx eyes again… She could only cry herself to sleep that night as she fell into an uneasy and restless slumber.

The next morning, she was woken up by the Third Hokage, who had asked for her dismissal from the hospital. She had quickly gotten dressed in the clothes he had provided her with simple black attire. She couldn’t refuse his gift. Everything she had ever owned had burned along with her previous life. Her strands of white hair had never been more apparent and she tried to hide it in a messy ponytail as she readied herself to leave, standing next to the elderly Hokage. He had remained silent until that point, a heavy and uncomfortable silence that unnerved Miyeko.

‘Come, child. There are things we need to discuss.’

As they walked towards the main entrance of the hospital, Miyeko felt a shadow past her as a warm wind brushed her shoulder. It couldn’t be…! She turned around but what she thought was her mother had been nothing more than a trick of her imagination. Even though Miyeko rarely spent time with her parents, she still adored them and respected the sacrifices they made every day so Kuri and herself could live a comfortable life. They never wanted for anything and always had food on the table, all because their parents were diligent people, waking up in the morning to go to work and sacrificed their family time for the sake of the village. And she always had her older sister to fill the void… but no more. She would never be able to lean on her older sister for love and support anymore. Her thoughts were interrupted by the weight of the Hokage’s hand on her shoulder and she turned around, her face paler than usual. ‘Follow me.’ he said in a warm voice as he resumed her walk with him. The sky was grey and light rain fell from the heavens as they walked down Konoha’s main street, they’re sandals gripping at the wet ground.

She could feel them looking at her… The villagers, the shopkeepers, the bypasses, and even some of the kids playing in the mud. Their eyes were on her, their gaze burning at her skin. She felt so vulnerable, so open, even walking beside the most powerful man in the Land of Fire, the Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaf. She could hear them whisper, their voices irritating her. She felt completely naked as she knew they all knew what had happened, her secrets exposed. She lowered her gaze and looked at the ground. She could feel the weight of their judgment on her shoulders. She felt so heavy with broken promises and unfulfilled expectations. She was the only one left of her clan, the sole survivor of the tragedy of the Nagaki clan. Kuri, the Shadow Dweller, had been killed, her skills lost forever to the fire that had taken everything from her. How could she ever make her clan a proud clan again? She was so young and inexperienced… How could she ever make the rising sun of Nagaki clan shine again? Her pride had been crushed, the people she loved murdered, her only friend gone… How could she remain amongst the living with pride when she had nothing else worth living for? It would be much simpler if she could just make herself disappear…

She hadn’t been paying attention to where the Hokage had taken her. She had just aimlessly dragged her feet next to him without a purpose. She felt like an empty shell of herself, her old life gone along with who she had been, what she had stood for. But then the Hokage had stopped, his body standing before her. She raised her head to meet his gaze, her legs barely able to support the weight of the hollow feeling inside of her. They were standing on the dark soil as Miyeko noticed the familiar trees around them, the smell of smoke still lingering in the air. She knew where they were. Behind the Hokage was a tall stone, white in color. Nothing was written on it, the stone blank. The old man standing before her sighed as she frowned sadly, a defeated expression on her face.

‘Why did you bring me here?’ she asked, monotonously. The Third Hokage looked at the stone and turned back to her, his gaze going right through her, as if she were an open book.

‘Because you need to say goodbye in order to move on, Miyeko.’ he said. ‘The dead deserve respect even though they are not here with us anymore.’ This had taken her aback. She understood why he brought her here again.

It was for her to have a moment to grieve, to say what she meant to say to her slain family who had traveled to the afterlife without her. She walked past the old shinobi and stood before the white, solitary headstone and knelt before it. She couldn’t think of any words to say to it. Even though she knew this headstone was erected for her loved ones, she couldn’t feel their presence around her, only the rain against her skin and the wind in her hair. There was nothing to say, only things to feel inside. Anger, pain, sadness, solitude... She wondered if they knew how much their absence hurt her inside, how she would give everything to have them back and live her life as nothing had ever happened. She could hear the Hokage’s footsteps behind her, his presence disturbing her thoughts.

‘This is where…’ he started, but the young girl kneeling before her family’s memorial stone didn’t let him finish.

‘This is where my life should have ended too.’ she stated, cutting him off mid-sentence. She didn’t want to hear him say anything about what had happened. She didn’t need to know any more about anything. She could feel his energy changing, his calm demeanor shifting. The Hokage grabbed her by the shoulder and spun her around too quickly for Miyeko to react.

‘No. You are exactly where you belong. Here, in this life. Alive.’ he said. His optimism fell on deaf ears.

‘Alive, you say. Alive... But not _living_. Existing without a clear purpose.’ she replied, her tired green eyes meeting his brown ones. ‘How can I live when everything I cared for was ripped out of my life so violently?’ she continued, raising her voice. ‘Tell me why I’m still here! I should have died along with them! **_Why?_**’ she was now screaming, tears in the corner of her eyes. The Hokage could only listen to her as the pain got stuck in her throat, along with repressed sobs. He closed his eyes and sighed.

‘Because that was the will of Kuri Nagaki, Konoha’s Shadow Dweller. There’s a reason why you survived and it’s because she managed to find a way to give you all the protection you would ever need.’ he said calmly. A look of confusion grew on Miyeko’s usually soft facial features as her green eyes gave him an interrogative look.

‘We are not sure yet how she managed it, but your sister, a true genius of a shinobi, managed to pass on to you her rare bloodline limit using a forbidden and very powerful sealing Ninjutsu.’ he said. Miyeko’s mind went blank as she began to tremble. Kuri… did what? She… passed on her bloodline limit? The one she was famed for amongst all shinobi of the village and beyond? But how did they know? How could they be sure? That’s when she realized… She let her hair down and pulled her hair to the side, letting her black hair fall on her shoulder as she grabbed the strands of white hair that grew overnight around her hairline. She then looked back to the Hokage, an expression of silent shock plastered on her face, her mouth slightly agape.

‘Those powers you inherited from her… were responsible for your protection during the attack that followed her death. Do you remember what happened?’ he asked. Miyeko shook her head. She decided to keep that information for herself as she couldn’t relive the horrible memories that had been imprinted in her mind about the horrible crimes she committed, the bloodshed she had created.

‘You need to control your abilities better, Miyeko. The village council has decided that you had to leave the village in order to do so. You understand why, surely...’ She nodded silently as she knew that there was nothing else keeping her here. She knew she had to leave, but she didn’t think it would be this soon after… after everything that had happened. A sense of insecurity grew inside her and her anxiety became visible. ‘You won’t be leaving alone if that’s what you were worried about.’ the old man continued.

Miyeko’s senses picked up someone’s energy from the tree behind them. A man. A man with a lot of chakra. He was sitting in a branch. She focused her chakra towards his direction, but her efforts were cut short when a tall, white-haired man appeared before her. _So fast!_ She thought. One moment he was meters away from her and the next he was standing in front of her, his impressive height intimidating her. He was wearing traditional fashion and sported a long mane of pale grey hair and wore red markings on his face. He was impressive and towered over her. She could only blink in surprise as the Hokage smiled. ‘It’s been a while, Jiraiya.’

The middle-aged shinobi smiled to the Hokage and reached for his pocket to take out a beautifully crafted bottle of sake that he opened before them, taking a sip. The Hokage sighed impatiently as Jiraiya, the tall stranger, turned sideways and poured the rest of the saké on the Nagaki clan’s grave, emptying the content until the last drop as an offering to the dead. Miyeko knew that sake was the most sacred of offering to the gods in order to keep her family safe in the afterworld and easing the passing of their souls. ‘Thank you.’ she said in a small voice as she wiped the tears out of her eyes. The gentle giant crouched to Miyeko’s height and gave her a warm smile.

‘You’re welcome, kid. My name’s Jiraiya. It’s nice to meet such a pretty young lady. Now, Lord Third, where is the unique young woman you wrote to me about?’ he asked with a cheeky grin on his face. Miyeko turned to the Hokage, confused as the elderly Hokage placed a gentle hand on her shoulder again.

‘Jiraiya, this is the person I told you about. Her name is Miyeko Nagaki. You’ll be traveling with her and train her in the arts of Senjutsu.’ he said, earning an incredulous look as he chuckled. Jiraiya, being the old student of the Third Hokage, had learned to respect the old man’s intuitions over the years. When he read the scroll Hiruzen had sent him, begging him to come back to the village for a favor, he knew this mission was of the utmost importance. The scroll the Hokage had written to him mentioned the training of a very special girl that had survived a massacre and that she possessed unique Senjutsu abilities and that she would only be able to reside in the village if she mastered her talents. Jiraiya was slightly annoyed. He had been expecting a very special_ looking_ girl, not some scrawny little child with sad eyes.

‘This little girl has unique abilities? I’m sorry old-timer, I doubt she’ll be able to take the kind of training I have to offer. I mean, look at her! She’s too young for this. There’s no way she’ll make it out alive. No offense, kiddo, but you’re just too small of a little girl.’ he said, laughing. Miyeko frowned, obviously taking offense at him diminishing her strength. Who was this old geezer anyway? She let out a disgruntled groan as the Hokage chuckled nervously.

‘Now, now Jiraiya… What if I told you that her raw Senjutsu abilities were even greater than the Fourth’s? You should know… considering he was your student after all. Aren’t you in the least bit curious to see if she can do any better?’ said the Third Hokage with a lighthearted chuckle, catching the Sannin’s attention. These grown men were having a go at her, thought Miyeko. Comparing her Senjutsu abilities to the Fourth Hokage’s… surely, the Third Hokage was going senile, she thought. Jiraiya took another look at her and shrugged in defeat.

‘Fine. We’ll see what she’s made of, old man. I can’t promise anything, though. She’ll have to do the work. Her life’s on the line, after all. And her home. Alright then, I accept. Come on, little thing. We’re leaving.’ he said, gesturing her to follow him as he began to walk away. The Hokage smiled warmly at her and politely nodded at her before disappearing in a whirlwind of leaves. They were now alone, this man called Jiraiya and herself, on her lands as heavy rain started to pour, cold water dripping on her pale skin. Miyeko didn’t move. She didn’t want to go with this stranger on a training journey she didn’t want to undertake. Her world had turned upside down and yet nobody had the consideration to ask her what she wanted in all of this. She was now angry, very angry. Irrational anger that itched at her skin.

‘I’m not going.’ she said, warm tears rolling down her face. Jiraiya stopped walking and turned around, a stoic look on his face.

‘You know, you kind of don’t have a choice, kid. It’s either you come with me, or… well, you don’t want to know what they’ll do to you if you don’t. What did you do exactly to wind up in a situation like this anyway?’ he asked with a tone of curiosity in his voice. Miyeko couldn’t look him in the eyes. She lowered her gaze and turned around to face the memorial stone once again, placing her tiny hand on the white marble.

‘I was given… a curse.’ she replied, her teeth clenched in anger. ‘A curse that I never asked for. A curse that took everything away from me. The council will have what it wants, not to worry. You can go now. I’m sorry for having you come all this way, Jiraiya. Now, let me be. There's something I must do.’ he said, kneeling in front of the headstone, reaching for a kunai in her weapon’s pocket, placing it to her throat, warm tears running down her neck and on the blade. She could feel the coldness of the blade on her skin as he pressed it harder against her neck, taunting a vein. She prayed to her parents, her sister to give her the strength to go through with this.

‘I’m sorry. I can’t go on like this…’ As she was about to commit the irreparable, Jiraiya quickly stepped behind her and held back her arm. She had prepared herself to die, she was ready to face death with dignity. Why did he have to meddle? Loud sobs escaped her mouth as she let go of the blade as it fell on the dark soil. She was furious as she growled at him.

**_‘Why would you do that?’_** she screamed, all her accumulated anguish and rage escaping her body all at once. Her whole body was shaking with hurt. Jiraiya crouched to her level once again and picked up the blade she had dropped, looked at it and handed it back to her with a solemn look on his face. ‘Because you would dishonor them.’ he said, pointing at her family’s headstone. She threw an angry punch at him, but he easily caught her small hand in his. He could see the pain in her eyes. Unresolved, unadulterated rage could be read in her green orbs, in those heavy tears.

‘Don’t presume to speak for them! _You are a stranger!_ You know _nothing_ about them! You know nothing about _me_!’ she screamed as he punched the ground. In that instant, Jiraiya felt something unusual, something dark forming inside of the Nagaki survivor’s body. Like a manifestation of… something that came straight out of her nightmares. Is that what the Third Hokage had written to him about? He could clearly sense she was absorbing the natural energy around her as she let it in through her own chakra barrier that she had learned to build over the years. Being a natural chakra user himself, he could sense her determination to keep out this natural flow of energy that was overcoming her. He could feel it. Only her willpower was stopping it from taking over her. Such strength at such a young age… He thought. Jiraiya gently walked towards her and crouched down to her level once again, putting a hand on her head.

‘It’s true, I know nothing about you.’ he said as he let out a soft sigh. ‘But what I do know is that there’s much more for you to accomplish to keep their legacy alive.’ he said, patting her head as she calmed down.

‘You’re too young to throw yourself in the gutter, little miss. I’ve seen war children that would have given anything for a chance at your life. Don’t dishonor them. Don’t dishonor your parents who sacrificed everything for you. Don’t dishonor your sister who has given you the ability to make a difference in this world, a _real _difference. _You don’t belong in the gutter_. We don’t know each other yet and I know trusting a stranger is hard. But please, give me a chance to change your mind. And by the end of your training, you will be able to decide whether life is worth living. Deal?’ he asked, his teeth showing through a grin, his pinky pointed at her. She blinked as he wiped away her tears. What he was saying made sense to her. For her sister’s sake, for her parents' sake, she had to try. She had to try to find something else to live for, something that would make her proud of her name again, something that would make her smile again. She raised her head to meet his gaze and grab his pinky finger with hers, binding them in a silent contract of a budding friendship.

As they walked towards the main gates of the Hidden Leaf Village, she couldn’t help but think about the only thing she was leaving behind. His dark eyes were haunting her. If she had one regret, it’s that she didn’t tell him goodbye properly. How she longed for his presence next to him…

‘So, little Genin, are you any good at playing cards? I need a good spotter.’ said the Sannin, chuckling. She frowned, annoyed.

‘_Chunin_. I’m a Chunin, you asshole.’ she said, crossing her arms. ‘And I hope you’re not talking about gambling.’ she said as she nudged his arm, earning a wince from the middle-aged man. As they crossed the gates leading her to her new life, Miyeko made a wish, a wish she would keep secret, tucked inside her heart. She wished that one day she would become worthy to see Itachi’s face once again.


	9. Ashes

> People's lives don't end when they die. It ends when they lose faith.

Day after day, season after season, the weight of solitude grew heavier in his chest. He didn't sleep very well anymore.

When he had learned of her departure from the village, he felt he was frozen in time, his heart beating only to pump blood in his veins. She disappeared. Emptiness.

His life had become the one of a tool. A tool for his village, for the ANBU, for his clan. Darkness. He could feel them worrying for him. His loved ones had tried everything to bring him out of his silent misery, to no avail.

The years had only made his shell thicker as he grew more silent as the days went by. As much as he tried to fight it, he was losing the battle to this solitude. Only his little brother could bring out a rare smile out of him.

He was haunted by the nightmare that was the void she left behind. He tried everyday to make it seem like it was getting better but deep down, he knew he was drowning with no one being able to pull him out of the waters of loneliness.

When would this end?


	10. The Homecoming

> Teachings that do not speak of pain have no meaning, for humankind cannot gain anything in return.

A cold spring wind blew in the trees of the Hidden Leaf Village as the gatekeepers of Konoha, Izumo Kamizuki and Kotetsu Hagane, huddled up together for warmth. They had been sitting at their post since very early in the morning, waiting for the first people of the day to cross the entrance gate. They had been unlucky so far. The only thing that had crossed the village's gates since the break of dawn was a fat squirrel. Izumo sighed, his teeth chattering. ‘You would think they’d put a space heater for us at this damn gate post.’ he mumbled. The Hidden Leaf Village has had a very tough winter and the spring sun wasn’t warm enough yet to rejoice for a nice summer. Kotetsu groaned.

‘Of course they wouldn’t. The cold is supposed to keep us alert. Quite frankly, it’s only making me irritable.’ he continued as he desperately tried to warm his hands with the warmth of his breath. Izumo shrugged as he took out a kunai blade and a small whetstone and began to sharpen the blade’s edge. ‘You being _irritable_ is an understatement, my friend.’ he chuckled, earning a slap on the head by his fellow shinobi.

‘Damn you, Izumo! One more word from you and I’ll shove that kunai up your- _Hey! _Would you look at that! Our first visitors of the day.’ he said, pointing at the two lonesome travelers who had crossed the gates of Konoha as the sun finally came out to warm the cold ground. Finally, something that would break the monotony of their jobs, thought Izumo, raising his head to have a look at the travelers. They wore worn-out clothes and heavy ponchos, hoods covering their heads. The first traveler was very tall by anyone’s standard and wore traditional zori sandals and ample clothes that hid his muscular disposition. The hooded cloak he wore hardly concealed his shaggy long white locks tied in a ponytail, red markings on his face only making him stand out from the usual lot of strangers crossing Konoha’s entrance gates.

The second traveler was much more interesting to Izumo and Kotetsu because she was much more elegant looking than the older scruffy man she had been traveling with. They had seen that man before… It then dawned on Izumo that he indeed recognized the man as one of Konoha’s most brilliant shinobi, Jiraiya. He knew the man well and the sight of Jiraiya in the village always brought the brothel keepers and the restaurant's owners much joy.

‘I don't believe it... it’s Master Jiraiya! How low has it been since he’s come around here, three years?’ asked Izumo, but his partner had only eyes for the young woman he was traveling with.

Kotetsu gave Izumo a gentle nudge on the arm, trying to catch his attention. ‘_What is it with you?_’ he whispered as Izumo looked at a grinning Kotetsu. ‘Now, that’s what I call pretty.’ he said, pointing at the feminine-looking silhouette that walked beside the Sannin, her cloak waving behind her. Izumo couldn’t deny that the young lass traveling with Jiraiya had a certain charm to her. The rosy color in her cheeks from the morning chill, the smoothness of her skin and the elegant lines of her hips and legs were dead giveaways of her beauty. Despite her torn clothes, muddy used boots and loose cloak, the two gatekeepers could tell that she was clearly, most definitely a shinobi. As they examined from afar the young woman, Izumo noticed the long blade on her back as it rested in its sheath. She was a shinobi alright, he thought. She sure did not look afraid of using that sword if push came to shove. The wind pushed the hood off her head to reveal a thick black braid with strands of white hair that touched her tailbone. Her pale skin was the color of alabaster. Her long eyelashes hid eyes the shade of an emerald. Kotetsu had rarely seen such an alluring young woman. But he swore he had seen her before… Who was she? Where did she come from? And why was she with Jiraiya? She was probably another one of his lovely mistresses, thought Kotetsu with a smirk growing on his face. After all, the Sannin had been known to be quite the womanizer known throughout the ninja world as Jiraiya the Handsome. They were about to approach them when the tall man walked next to her waved at them with a warm smile. Izumo sighed.

‘I guess we can let them through, right? It’s Jiraiya after all.’ he said, sitting back down. Kotetsu also sat back down on his chair, an intrigued look in his eye.

‘Who is she?’ he asked his colleague, caught in a daze.

‘No clue. But I’m hoping she stays for a while. The village could use the sight of her after this long bleak winter. Hopefully she brought the warmth of summer with her.’ he said as the two travelers headed towards the village, the morning sun beaming on their faces.

**…**

Hiruzen Sarutobi, known as the Third Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaf, had awaited the moment of Jiraiya’s return with anticipation. For three years, he received little to no news from his old disciple and his protégée. It had been radio silence since they stepped outside the village on that fateful, rainy day. Jiraiya had always been the most talkative out of all his students, so he felt intrigued as to why the frog hermit had kept her training secret all this time with no reports on her wellbeing nor her skill improvement. As Jiraiya entered the Hokage’s office, the door closed behind him and he walked towards his old sensei, giving the old man a warm hug. ‘Hey there, old-timer. Still alive, I see.’ he said, a chuckle escaping his lips. The old man’s eyes narrowed slightly but his annoyance soon dissipated and a small smile grew on his weary face.

‘Yes, you little runt. My back’s a mess and my arthritis is worse than ever, but yes, I’m still alive. I couldn’t be so sure as for yourself. You never sent a scroll my way to tell me of your whereabouts nor your wellbeing… and _hers_.’ he said to his old incorrigible student, who didn’t seem to be as concerned as the Third Hokage was about it.

‘Old habits die hard, Lord Third. You know I never did send you mission update scrolls, even in my young days. I’m not about to start now that I’ve reached my prime.’ said Jiraiya, sporting the silly grin Hiruzen had grown to miss.

Even as a child, Jiraiya had always been carefree and just a little too much to handle for the Sarutobi clansman. But Jiraiya had always had a special place in his heart ever since the moment he had tied him to a wood post during his famous Genin bell trial. He had always been the jokester out of his three students, back in the day. The Third Hokage felt like he had aged thirty years since he had last seen his old discipline and the fine lines on Jiraiya’s face made his look like an enormous canyon of rough lines and crevices. ‘How did the last three years treat you, Jiraiya? Hope your assignment wasn’t too hard.’ said the old man, inviting his former student to sit down to a cup of freshly brewed tea. Jiraiya took a sip and cleared his throat and raised an eyebrow.

‘The task you gave me was _far_ from being an easy one. Out of all the pupils I have taken under my wing, this one was the most challenging. Minato was as docile as a trained poodle compared to her. So obedient and enthusiastic… I found no such qualities in _this one_, Lord Hokage, but… she has a strength of character that will be hard to break and is the most resilient little being I’ve ever had the chance to encounter. ’ he said, reliving past memories. He laughed softly as he rubbed the back of his head. ‘As adorable as she looked back then, I had no idea she was this stubborn and irritating. There were days where I would have gladly drowned myself in Mount Myoboku’s river rather than to deal with her, but what stopped me from dragging her back here by her hair…’ started Jiraiya, a smirk on his face. ‘... Was her unshakable will to live. Her will to change. And she did.’ Jiraiya could talk all he wanted about her infuriating this young woman could be at times, he couldn’t help but smile at the memories of her running around Mount Myoboku as Ma and Pa jumped after her as they tried to feed her lice soup.

‘I grant she gave you a fair challenge, then? She proved worthy of your teachings?’ asked the Third Hokage, also taking a sip out of his warm teacup and placing it back on the table, next to a pile of missions he had to assign to numerous squadrons of shinobi later in the day. Jiraiya’s smile grew a little bigger.

‘Not only did she prove worthy of the trials I gave her, but she has exceeded all expectations from the frogs on Mount Myoboku. You were right, old man. She _is_ a genius in the arts of natural energy release. There’s no doubt about it. Her raw skills alone have long surpassed mine. There’s nothing else I can teach her.’ he replied. Hiruzen was an old man, but his ears never deceived him. He swore he heard a tinge of pride in Jiraiya’s tone, just as he had once been with late Fourth Hokage. Hiruzen couldn’t deny the exceptional skill Jiraiya had with children and their shinobi training. He had never met such a naturally gifted sensei, not even himself. Hiruzen lit his pipe and inhaled the smoke from the tobacco as he meditated on what Jiraiya had just said. As glad as he was that Jiraiya could provide sufficient training for the young shinobi, there was still a worrisome cloud that swirled over his mind concerning Miyeko Nagaki. Her mastery alone of Senjutsu would be sufficient enough to let her back in the village, but… what about the other force that laid dormant inside her? The force that earned her the nickname of Shinigami?

‘And… what about the other matter we had discussed before you left with her? Has that been settled?’ he asked as he exhaled smoke from his pipe. Jiraiya sighed again but this time, Hiruzen saw another kind of emotion that he had never seen on his old discipline’s face. It was uncertainty. Jiraiya didn’t need to speak about it, his expression betrayed his thoughts. Hiruzen groaned, knowing very well his old disciple had also shared his worries about her condition. There was something Jiraiya hid from him and he didn’t like this kind of secrecy.

‘What have you discovered about it, Jiraiya?’ he asked. Jiraiya knew he couldn’t keep this kind of information to himself. His sensei was too quick-witted and sensitive to other people’s emotions for him to try to hide his thoughts any longer.

‘This girl has abilities that even the greediest little shits like Orochimaru would think twice about possessing. Without knowledge of how to use the powers handed down to her by the famous Shadow Dweller, there’s little I can say about her mastery of it. But I can tell you this. She _is_ aware of what triggers her Kekkei Genkai to manifest and she’s been very diligent about avoiding said triggers to avoid getting riled up enough for her to let _it_ out. She manages self-control beautifully. But still, there’s a part of her that remains untamed. It’s hard to explain. Chakra can be so intangible and complex at the same time…’ he started. Hiruzen had to know more. He had to in order to determine her status in this village.

‘Has any incident occurred while she was in your care?’ he asked. Jiraiya nodded silently.

‘Yes, once. On that day, when we were training on limiting the amount of natural chakra to absorb for one single technique. Needless to say, it overcame her as she tried to mold her own chakra with an excessive, unbalanced amount of natural chakra… Her energy simply became off balanced. The only way I could qualify what I saw…’ he started, but his thoughts were interrupted by Hiruzen’s gaze piercing at his secrets. ‘... Is that the natural energy she absorbs completely _bypasses _her own chakra barriers, ignoring her physical restraints, to let out the creatures she creates in her mind to manifest. I’ve never seen this kind of Ninjutsu before.’ continued Jiraiya, his old sensei listening in complete silence, taking in every bit of information he could.

‘You see, training someone who absorbs natural chakra without _even trying_ puts an already heavy stress on that person’s body. Adding the molding of said chakra with her own to perform a technique that requires mind manipulation of energy… That makes the equation really, _really_ difficult to solve. Training in Senjutsu alone is hard enough even for an expert level ninja. Training in Senjutsu with a unique ability that lets the user transform the combination of natural and human chakra into a mix of elemental natures into what she sees in her mind is more than _exceedingly _difficult. It’s the work of a lifetime, really. I honestly can’t say if she’ll ever be able to master it. I could feel how lost she felt with all this power and how little she knew how to use it. I don’t believe she truly understands the complexity of what she can do, but if she ever learns to use and combine efficiently those two abilities… Well, I’ll let you arrive at your own conclusion.’ said Jiraiya. The Hokage had stopped smoking his pipe as he desperately tried to understand what his pupil had been saying.

The Hokage sighed as he inhaled smoke from his pipe once again, his eyes closed in deep thoughts. ‘I doubt she will ever be able to accomplish such a feat, even if she’s considered to be a genius... Not even the Fourth could accomplish that. Not even you, Jiraiya. Nonetheless, I am confident in her current abilities. You bringing her back in this village proves she’s ready to come back and that she doesn’t pose an imminent danger to our citizens. It should shut the council members traps for a bit. Her growth proves she can be trusted… for now... Speaking of the devil, where is she?’ asked the Third Hokage as he rested his elbows on the arms of his chair, finally able to sit back and relax.

‘She’s probably downtown doing what girls her age do best.’ he replied as he sighed heavily. The Hokage let out a chuckled, intrigued. ‘And what would that be?’ he asked. Jiraiya shrugged.

‘Shopping.’ He said with a tone of exasperation in his voice. He knew his young pupil very well by now. She had been talking about buying new clothes for quite some time now, saying that the clothes Jiraiya had picked for her last time he went shopping for her were- he quotes her-_ ‘fucking ugly’_. The Third Hokage let out a loud laughter. Oh, that Jiraiya… would he ever learn? He remembered him taking his old teammate Tsunade out for ‘shopping dates’ and how that usually ended up like for Jiraiya. The hermit Sannin looked mighty and tough but had a weakness: girls. Jiraiya was a generous man and knowing just how easily his old pupil could be manipulated by girls made the Third Hokage feel pity for the frog hermit.

‘And whose money is she shamelessly spending right now?’ he asked, the shadow of a laughter in the old man’s voice. Jiraiya could feel tears forming in his eyes as his shoulders fell backwards in defeat.

‘Mine.’

**…**

Fresh clothes always made a woman feel exceptional and it wasn’t different for Miyeko Nagaki as she brought the new clothes she had set her mind on buying to the cash register. The saleswoman gave her a polite nod as she gift wrapped Miyeko’s purchase, intensely looking at the young woman standing before her. She had never seen in all of her career a customer so unique looking. The young woman’s skin, pale as alabaster stone, was covered with bruises from the neck down and she bore very prominent scars on her forearms. The saleswoman noticed amidst the handful of black hair cascading on the back of the young woman a single strand of silvery white hair that made this specific customer stand out from her usual clientele. By all standards, the young woman standing before her was quite pretty. She could tell that her new customer had very specific tastes as all the clothes she had picked out for herself were black and simple yet form fitting and breathable. A shinobi, the saleswoman thought to herself. ‘Not much of a colorful person, are you sweetheart?’ she asked as she continued gift wrapping the clothes Miyeko had brought her. The kunoichi shrugged passively.

‘Black has always been my color. It makes it easier to blend in.’ She stated as she took out a very thick looking wallet. The saleswoman’s beady eyes suddenly opened fully at the sight of the young woman’s apparent wealth. Miyeko smiled as she handed the woman several hundreds of ryo for payment. As Miyeko exited the store, the saleswoman followed her and tapped her shoulder to grab her attention. ‘You definitely look like one of my favorite customers that used to come here a lot. It’s been so long since I’ve seen the Shadow Dweller in my store… Would you happen to be related to her? And do you know if she’s on a long-term mission?’ she asked. Miyeko sighed deeply and offered a warm smile to the middle-aged woman.

‘I’m afraid I’m not. But I do think she’s moved on from Konoha.’ Miyeko replied as she left the store, bags of clothes in one hand, an empty wallet in the other. As she walked along the shops on Konoha’s business street, she couldn’t help but to remind herself of simpler times, when she saw a world in a girl’s eyes. The houses and stores were so tall and big to her back then. The smells and noises of the village had stayed the same. She stopped by her favorite tea shop where she spent countless hours with Kuri talking about her studies at the Academy. It was nice to walk around what used to be a street she knew so well and wander around, looking at the shops, at the faces of villagers who knew nothing about her. She had been so anxious about coming back to the village to find herself harassed by strangers and be pitied by them for what had happened to her and her family. Miyeko tried her best every day to make peace with what had happened three years ago and had struggled for a very long time until she realized that Jiraiya had been right all along. After all this time, she did find something worth living for. She couldn’t put it into words, but she knew she would be able to piece it together if she returned to the Village Hidden in the Leaf, her home. She turned right on a street that lead her east of the village, on an off-road she knew too well.

As she walked down the cobblestone road that lead just outside Konoha’s center town towards the east, she looked around and noticed just how much the forest of her lands had grown since the fire had ravaged it all these years ago. It’s as if nature had healed itself to hide the scars of the past, thought Miyeko as she noticed the first spring buds. After all this sadness, a new hope had been reborn. When she reached where her house gate used to be, she looked in the distance to see her family’s white memorial stone. Wildflowers had grown in the now open meadow and to Miyeko, it seemed as if nothing had happened here, a thick green luxurious coat of grass covering where her house once stood. It was a peaceful place, she thought. Not a sound, not a soul in sight. She was alone, finally. Three years of being Jiraiya’s student had created a longing for peace and quiet within Miyeko as the only time she ever got to be alone at Mount Myoboku was when Jiraiya left to continue his ‘research’, as he called it, which always made her roll her eyes in utter annoyance.

_‘Peeping at naked girls in a bath house is **not** research, Jiraiya. Shouldn’t you have already lost any interest in those things since you’re so damn old? I mean, does it even go up anymore?’ _She asked him once or twice, earning her weeks’ worth of extra chores at the frog temple for her insubordination and insolence. Days later, Jiraiya would come back to Mount Myoboku, his skin bruised from all the slaps and punches from the bath housekeepers he earned for his perversions. He always came back to her begging for her to heal and patch him up, which she did on the condition that he lifts her punishment. They would drink tea afterward and laugh together.

_‘You’ve grown cheeky, Miyeko. Stubborn. Annoying. And yet, I still kind of like you.’_ he said as he patted her head, brushing his hand against her white streak of hair. She had grown to like Jiraiya’s presence and yet she craved a moment of peace and quiet that his obnoxious and loud self couldn’t give her very often. She had grown accustomed to the sounds of mud rivers and the croaking of frogs but never had she had one moment of complete silence.

And here she was, at her family’s memorial, the silence around her deafening, overwhelming her. It was as if nothing had happened here. As if the tragedy that had occurred here had gone with the wind and time, forever forgotten. As she walked towards the white marble headstone, she noticed a bouquet of wildflowers sitting against it. Miyeko recognized this floral arrangement. She had seen it before. From inspecting the wrappings, Miyeko knew it was from the Yamanaka Flower Shop. She knelt to touch it and realized that someone must’ve been coming here often to keep the gravesite clean and offer fresh flowers for the dead. And then she heard footsteps behind her. As she rose up, her head turned to see a tall and handsome figure, a man holding a bouquet of wildflowers in his hands. His short messy hair and dark eyes gave his identity away as she smiled to him, immediately recognizing his face. The man’s mouth opened slightly, his dark eyes brightening up as he took a step forward, his hands trembling.

‘Miyeko, is that you?’ he asked, incredulous.

‘It’s been a while, Shisui.’

**...**

Itachi Uchiha handed in his mission report to the ANBU officer in charge of collection and pushed his bangs away from his bloodied face. Assassinations were not his favorite kind of ANBU mission, but they were necessary for the village’s security. His bloodied hands felt sticky and unclean and his garb had been stained with red from his target’s open wounds. Transporting a dead body on his shoulders for miles on end proved to be more of a challenge than what Itachi had ever expected. He never realized just how heavy a corpse could be. He wiped his hands on his already sullied grey garb and sighed. As the target’s corpse emptied itself on his uniform, Itachi couldn’t help but to think that life was so fragile and ephemeral. One day, someone could be looking at the sunny skies and the next contemplating one’s last words as a blade slit one’s throat, ending all possibilities of a bright future. His thoughts were interrupted by his squad captain placing a hand on his shoulder, his touch snapping Itachi back to his heavy, burdensome reality.

‘Are you alright, Itachi?’ Asked a masked Kakashi Hatake, his tall silhouette dwarfing Itachi’s own. Kakashi Hatake of the Sharingan, the Copycat Ninja, Kakashi of a Thousand Jutsus had been his ANBU squad captain for almost six months now and it was the first time he had inquired about Itachi’s well-being. Itachi knew that Kakashi Hatake was not the kind of man to care for others beyond his missions and was surprised at the attention he suddenly gave him. Itachi turned his head sideways, evading his superior’s inquiring gaze.

‘I’m doing fine, captain. I just need to get rid of the smell of blood on my skin.’ he said, gently walking away from the older shinobi, not wanting to attract any more attention from his squad leader. He could hear Kakashi walked behind him and Itachi stopped and exhaled slowly. ‘Is there anything I can do for you, captain?’ he asked respectfully. Kakashi Hatake was a very intelligent man, possessed an extraordinary sense of smell and was very acute to his surroundings. A genius of a shinobi, by anyone’s standard. He was a renowned war hero and possessed an array of techniques that even Itachi deemed impressive, his most valuable attribute being the Sharingan eye that had been implanted in his left eye. Kakashi sighed and walked beside his young subordinate, a frown drawing itself on his masked face.

‘Listen, kid. I just wanted to tell you that you have truly been an asset to this squad ever since you came into ANBU. I had my doubts about you when you first enlisted and thought to myself that you were simply too young, too immature to join such an organization as the ANBU. But you have proved me and many others wrong. You’re growing exceptionally well and soon you’ll be able to lead your own squad and make your own decisions for the best of this village. I don’t praise people too often, as you might have noticed. And still, after demonstrating your talents and proving to not just me but then entire high command of your grounded and rational intellect and mind, I can’t help but notice some things.’ Said Kakashi as he stopped walking, Itachi imitating him. The young Uchiha turned around to finally meet Kakashi’s gaze as his superior removed his mask, his dark grey eye gazing into Itachi’s onyx ones. His masked face was slightly bruised but didn’t show any serious injuries, his Sharingan eye hidden behind his headband. Even without showing it, Itachi could feel its intensity as Kakashi’s gaze rested on the young Uchiha. Itachi closed his eyes, a little exasperated.

‘What do you mean by that, captain?’ he asked. Kakashi eyes narrowed.

‘Don’t take what I’m about to say the wrong way but I’m afraid the job is starting to get to you, Itachi. When was the last time you ate?’ he asked, concern in his voice. Itachi looked at him and forced a smile on his face, something he had grown accustomed to doing ever since that day. He knew that Kakashi was very observant and had noticed that Itachi was limiting his food intake during missions and the older shinobi hoped that it wasn’t just during missions. Itachi shrugged nonchalantly. ‘I’m just not very hungry on missions, captain. I would not want an upset stomach to jeopardize the success of the mission. I’ll make sure to eat when I get home.’ he said as he was about to walk away from ANBU headquarters.

‘Itachi. I’m not quite done yet.’ Said Kakashi, catching Itachi’s attention once again. ‘I apologize, captain.’ he simply said, listening to Kakashi.

‘As a captain, I’m only doing what’s in the best interest of my squad members. I wouldn’t ask if I wasn’t worried. But I also want to know when was the last time you had a decent, full night of sleep.’ Continued Kakashi, his eyes never letting go of Itachi’s. The Uchiha teen felt betrayed by his own body. Only the very observant would notice just how disrupted his sleeping pattern was as he was never fully able to doze off soundly. Itachi had trouble sleeping ever since she left, his mind racing during his sleep. He would often wake up in the middle of the night, in a sweaty mess of his own, his whole body trembling with anxiety. His night terrors had taken a toll on the young Uchiha. He traced his fingers on his face, the tips brushing against the dark circles that had been carved under his eyes. In truth, Itachi was tired most of the time but knew how to hide his state very well, even from himself.

‘It’s hard for me to fully lower my guard when I’m on a mission, captain. You never know when a blade will be placed at your throat by the enemy.’ he said, looking at his squad captain with heavy eyes. Kakashi sighed. He had seen this happen so many times to shinobi since he joined ANBU. Itachi Uchiha was the new prized possession of the ANBU and the prodigal child of the Uchiha clan. The weight of all this pressure… Kakashi knew all about it too well. He could see himself in that Uchiha young man. A lecture is not what the kid needs right now, thought Kakashi as he stepped forward. This time, he put both of his hands on Itachi Uchiha’s shoulders and looked deep into the teen’s tired, onyx eyes. What he saw was nothing but emptiness.

‘Itachi Uchiha. I’m not used to asking for favors and then again, I’m not asking for much. Only for you to promise me something.’ Kakashi sighed. ‘If it gets too much for you, if the anxious trembling inside doesn’t go away, if the nightmares continue to haunt you at night, I want you to leave ANBU. This place is not made for the run of the mill shinobi. The _things _you see and do on these missions, they’ll never leave your head. They’ll crawl under your skin, itch at your eyes, burn you inside and engrave horrors in your mind. I’ve lost many friends to this invisible disease. You’re too young to throw your life away to the shadows. Like I said, I don’t do this often. But if you can’t handle it, nobody will hold it against you. Your life is precious.’ Said Kakashi, his voice deep and serious. There was no reaction from the teen. Kakashi frowned. He might have been too late after all. And then Kakashi saw Itachi eye’s shift to look at his own, his mouth curved in a forced smile once again.

‘The moment we become shinobi is the moment we give away our rights to a normal life. We are tools, captain. Nothing more. We exist to serve. We aren’t people, we are numbers assigned to a task. Our morals are dictated by rules and protocols. There is no right and wrong, only orders. Living outside of that mindset dooms a shinobi to a life of unrealistic expectations and deceptions. Emotions only get in the way of duty and duty is all that I care about. I appreciate your concern. And for form’s sake, I will tell you that I am alright and that I am taking care of myself. But in between us two…’ started Itachi as he pushed away Kakashi’s hands from his shoulder, the tomoes of his Sharingan directly looking into his superior’s eye.

'I suggest you keep your concerns to yourself.’ he said, a small empty smile etched on his face. As he walked away, Kakashi sighed and closed his eyes. He had been too late. Kakashi Hatake was a cold man, calculated and distant. But he felt disappointed in himself at the thought of having failed the youngest ANBU member in Konoha’s history, the hope and pride of the Uchiha clan and who he considered, at the very least, a comrade. He disappeared in a cloud of smoke as he took one last look at the back of Itachi Uchiha walking towards the exit of Headquarters, his head slightly bowed forward as he looked at the ground emptily, desperately looking for something to focus his gaze on to keep him from looking at the blood that had stained his hands.

**… **

Shisui had walked around town for a good part of the day, trying desperately to forget her face. She looked so much like Kuri did at that age, thought Shisui. Kuri Nagaki had been part of his Chunin cohort and he has always kept an eye out for her. Shisui Uchiha of the Body Flicker had been completely enamored by the young woman nicknamed Shadow Dweller of Konoha since the first day he saw her. He could still clearly see in his mind her snowy white hair cascading down her back and how it contrasted against the dark fabric of her garments. The look she gave him on their first date when her dark eyes stared into his was engraved in his mind and seemed almost as warm as the smile she gave him after they had first kissed. These were happy memories to him but had been tainted by the image of her bloody corpse lying on the autopsy table as strangers amassed around it. He never felt pain like he did on that day. His screams of sorrow filled the morgue as Fugaku held him in his arms, his strong hands preventing Shisui from running to her body. Her opened eyes had given an empty vacant expression, her blood staining red her once vibrant white hair. He thought the pain of her loss would never go away and it consumed it for a time. A very long time. As he took one last look at her body, all those years ago, he felt his body going numb, his eyes burning with anger and with a desire for revenge.

On that day, he felt something change within him. Something dark had taken place in his heart. They had taken his future from him, his future with her. He was haunted by the image of her delicate, beautiful body lying on the cold table, her alabaster skin cold and blue. His best friend, his lover, the girl he loved was dead and there was nothing he could do about it, nothing at all. As Fugaku held him tightly, Shisui had felt the burn in his eyes. It was not an ordinary burn. It was something more powerful than that. Even in death, he thought, she had given him a reason to live and a special gift only she could have given him. On that rainy day, as he walked home with Fugaku next to him, he wiped the tears away from his newly awakened Mangekyou Sharingan. All of these memories came to him in a flood of images provoked by looking at the one thing that had meant more to his beloved Kuri than anything else in the world: her little sister Miyeko.

When he saw Miyeko standing before her family’s memorial pyre, his eyes noticed the white strand of hair in her delicate tresses, the same hair he used to run his fingers through when Kuri was alive. She resembled her in so many ways. From the fairness of her alabaster skin to the delicate lines of her face, Miyeko was the spitting image of her late sister. She possessed a unique type of beauty that made her green eyes stand out. When Miyeko grabbed his hand to pull him in an embrace, it’s as if he felt Kuri’s soul in her touch, like she was a part of the last survivor of the Nagaki clan. They had shared a warm embrace on this cold spring morning and for the first time in three years, Shisui’s pain was soothed. ‘I missed you.’ She had said to him. He could almost hear Kuri’s voice in Miyeko’s, her words as smooth as silk.

‘Where have you been?’ He asked her, his voice trembling. She let go of him and looked into his eyes.

‘Away.’ She quietly said. He was mesmerized by her features, her deep gaze and her long eyelashes.

‘Why did you stay away for so long?’ He asked, genuinely curious as to why she departed the village without saying a word, without telling him goodbye. She looked away in the distance, not wanting to meet his gaze.

‘For the village. For everyone I care about. For_ him_.’ she said. Shisui had seen the devastating consequences of her leaving and how it had affected his younger cousin. Day after day they walked to the center town of the village together, spending time together. And yet, day after day, he had seen his younger cousin pull away, growing distant and more silent, a shell of who he used to be. Itachi Uchiha had not been the same man ever since he last saw Miyeko Nagaki. He only ever did come out of his shell on very few occasions and only let very specific people witness it.

He had grown cold and weary and for the last three years, all he ever did anymore was his missions and his occasional training bouts with his younger brother Sasuke, who seemed to be the only person who could ever get inside of Itachi’s already crowded mind. Shisui knew that Itachi had also been mourning the loss of someone close to him, just as he did. Only, this person was still alive and well and he had been dead to her. Shisui couldn’t even begin to comprehend just how Itachi managed to stay alive for all this time. He rarely ate. He barely slept. He went on existing with the weight of Miyeko’s rejection bearing heavily on his already closed heart. Mourning someone who died is difficult enough, thought Shisui. Mourning someone who is alive seemed even crueler. Shisui watched in silence as he witnessed his younger cousin, almost a brother to him, slowly die inside every day since that fateful day. And this feeling of emptiness was only growing stronger after he joined the ANBU.

Shisui had told Fugaku Uchiha, the Head of his clan, that Itachi joining the ANBU would prove disastrous and that Itachi needed a more gentle and comprehensive approach to heal his wounds. But Fugaku had the mind to put him through with ANBU training, stating that his son had always been a rather unique child and that Itachi needed to get his pain out through hard work to finally become the man he ought to be. Shisui had also joined the ANBU purely to keep an eye out on his clansmen, who had been slowly more adamant and vocal about strengthening the Uchiha’s clan position within the village and for his beloved younger cousin. Itachi had become very good at hiding it but there was no fooling Shisui. He was hurting more than ever. Everyone around him found his behavior rather normal for Itachi, as he always had been a reserved and shy child. At fourteen years old, Itachi was a shell shocked, suffering war child and no one seemed to notice just how deep the wounds were under his facade. Shisui had been worried up until today but now that Miyeko was back, he had to do something about it. He couldn’t stay a witness to his misery anymore.

Shisui had been waiting for Itachi to exit Headquarters and he stood against the gate, his back pressed on the cold stone. When he saw his cousin emerge, he smirked. He had grown so much in three years, almost reaching Shisui’s brow bone. His long black hair had been tied in a ponytail, his bangs flowing in the wind, caressing his face. His growth spurt could not hide his tired eyes, thought Shisui. He looked so tired. Shisui sighed heavily. To anyone else, Itachi Uchiha was a fine young handsome man that had a bright future ahead of his as the next Uchiha clan Head. But to Shisui, Itachi looked like the ghost of who he could be, who he wanted to be. Something had to change before the shadows of the shinobi world pulled him in too deep for him to be saved. Shisui refused to see him get swallowed by the beast that took so many of them already. He was resolute. He would bring Itachi Uchiha into the light. He waved at his cousin, who barely acknowledged his presence as he simply nodded at him, walking past him.

‘Don’t be rude, Itachi. I walked all the way out here to say hi. Won’t you say hello to your _favorite_ cousin?’ he asked with a grin, nudging Itachi’s arm playfully. Itachi slowly looked at Shisui and shrugged lazily.

‘Hi.’ he said, his gaze unfocused. Shisui and Itachi walked towards the Uchiha compound, the cold wind brushing against their faces. Shisui handed him a small parcel. Itachi opened it to find sweet dango inside, Itachi’s favorite. Shisui thought that the sweets would bring out a little appetite in Itachi but he handed them back. ‘Thank you but I’m not hungry.’ He said to Shisui but his older cousin pushed the dango box once again in Itachi’s hand with a stern look in his eyes.

‘Listen to me, you little dipshit. I can hear your stomach grumbling. They’re your favorite and you’re going to eat them. You need to perk up and gain a little muscle. Don’t you want to look your best when you see her?’ He asked, hinting at something Itachi couldn’t understand. He gave Shisui a confused look as Shisui laughed. Itachi considered himself smarter than most but even after all this time he spent with Shisui, sometimes he couldn’t understand him. He was so jolly all the time, even after what happened to him. How did he manage to do it? They soon reached the Uchiha compound’s gates and Shisui stepped over to Itachi, leaning towards him. Shisui gave him a warm grin and brought his lips to Itachi’s ear.

‘She’s back, Itachi.’ He simply said as he ran past his younger cousin, running towards his house as he waved Itachi goodbye. Itachi’s heart stopped. For the first time in a very long time, his mind stopped racing and the trembling inside had calmed down. All he could think about what her eyes, so deep and green. He thought he had lost the feeling of the wind on his skin as he had been so oblivious to everything happening around him for so long. For the first time in quite some time, he felt the cold breeze on his skin as a shiver ran down his back. His long hair blew in the wind as he felt a rush of adrenaline run through his entire body, awakening him from a slumber of numbness. And then it happened.

_A smile_. A genuine, warm smile appeared across his face. He had almost forgotten just how happiness could bring out a smile from him. Even though she had pushed him away, even though all this time ago she had told him to leave and never speak to her again, he had always waited for her in silence as he remembered that vision of their future that played so often in his mind. He hung to that vision, that memory of her. It would sometimes be on a really bad day the only thing keeping him from insanity. He had cried so many tears when he found out she had left without a trace, without saying goodbye. He felt like a piece of his soul had been ripped from him. And now, the hope and anticipation of seeing her again made his heart beat with a new yet familiar excitement. As he walked home, there was a new light in his eyes as he devoured the sweet and salty dangos.


	11. A Start to A New Life

> True change cannot be made if it is bound by laws and limitations, predictions and imagination.

Itachi woke up a few days later from another half-night of uneasy sleep. His nightmares would wake him up at night. He couldn’t exactly tell what happened in his dreams but he always woke up terrified and anxious, his hands trembling and his body covered in cold sweat. He sat in his bed, his bedsheets covering half of his body, his naked torso drenched. He pushed back his long hair behind, his bangs slightly sticking to his skin. His breath was labored and his neck was stiff. Itachi was used to torment in his sleep but since he had learned that Miyeko Nagaki came back to the village, his sleeping pattern had been even more agitated than before. In his dream, he would see dancing shadows and tall flames and he heard voices. These voices would start in a whisper but soon after they would transform into blood-curling shrills that would instantly wake him up in terror. It was always the whispers that got to Itachi as he felt his consciousness react to them so vividly. Itachi Uchiha was a level-headed young man that didn’t know many fears. His nightmares were one of the only things that would make even a calm and reserved young man such as Itachi genuinely petrified.

He put a hand on his bare chest to feel his irregular heartbeat. He knew that deep breaths would soon bring his heart rate to normal and so he lied down on his back once again, his eyes closed and inhaled deeply, then exhaled slowly. His body slowly started to relax and often a moment he opened his eyes again, this time calmer and soothed. Itachi had started experiencing these nightly panic attacks ever since he joined the ANBU two years ago. At first, he thought these haunting dreams would pass. After he noticed that these nightmares weren’t going away, he started to exercise more at night to tire his body to sleep. But physical exhaustion made it worst. He then decided to throw himself in Ninjutsu studies and often fell asleep on his scrolls. Again, his nightmares would persist and they would become more insidious as his missions in Konoha’s ANBU became more gruesome and psychologically demanding. He looked at the ceiling and sighed. He was stuck in an endless cycle of emotional implosion and couldn’t break free.

His thoughts went immediately to Sasuke, his younger brother who had been his only solace in this house he called home. But even if Itachi tried to explain as simply as he could his problems to Sasuke, he felt like the seven-year-old child wouldn’t quite understand. He couldn’t talk to his father about it. Itachi knew that Fugaku Uchiha was a strict man and was deprived of any emotional sensibility that would make him able to relate to him and what he was going through. And his mother… He couldn’t put her through his hell. He loved her too much for that. He felt he would sadden her with his troubles. And Shisui? No, Shisui has had enough heartbreak in the past years and Itachi felt guilty even thinking of confiding in Shisui about something so trivial as his persistent anxiety. After all, he had gone through something that made Itachi’s blood run cold with fear. Shisui had lost his best friend, his lover… his future, his hopes and dreams. He would not allow himself this act of selfishness towards his cousin, who he considered the closest person to him. He closed his eyes again, the darkness of the night caressing his naked skin. Without noticing, Itachi fell into a fragile sleep.

His mind brought him to an image of Miyeko as he imagined her long hair brushing the skin of her shoulders and cascading down the delicate yet strong lines of her back, her single strand of snowy white hair lightly touching her cheekbones, her eyes half-closed from the wide smile she bore on her pale face. He could almost see her, in his dream. He hadn’t seen her for years and yet he felt like he knew exactly how much she had changed as she became a beautiful young woman.

For once in a very long time, Itachi’s dreams weren’t plagued with horror but with her envisioned and imaginary beauty. He could only imagine the elegant lines of her neck to the softness of the skin covering her collarbone and her shoulders. Even when they were kids, Itachi always admired the strength of her figure. His mind started to race as his consciousness painted her chest, the curve of her breasts basking in a soft warm light. His mind then made him follow the lines of her waist down to her hips as he saw in his dream the softness of her figure and her womanly bosom. He hadn’t seen her for years and yet still, his mind still wanted to show him this image of her, of her grown and dare he say alluring and desirable figure. Still, asleep and dreaming vividly, he could feel his heart race and his cheeks burn with something foreign he had never experienced before. And then, she had spoken to him. Her voice was calling to him. _ ‘Itachi.’ _ Miyeko had said in his dream, her voice as soft as the brushing of the night’s wind in his hair. He felt so calm, so soothed. How long did he dream this image of her naked figure calling his name? He couldn’t say.

And then he woke up in a startle, his eyes wide open as he felt something inside him release. He was still panting but this time, it was different. He didn’t feel anxious or panicked like he had been earlier in the night. He felt relieved. Itachi’s face was lit up by the dawn’s early sun rays and he knew he had to get up to get prepared for his next mission. When he pushed himself to the side of the bed, something felt off to him. He had sweated much more than usual, he thought to himself. And then he felt it. Something that often brought him shame in the morning. He knew his body was changing, that he was a man and that it was normal for his lower half to feel stiff in the morning when he got up. He was used to that. He never thought much of it before.

Well, that was before he felt something wet in his pants on that morning. He sat down on the edge of his bed and sighed. He looked down and raised his gaze almost immediately back up again in embarrassment. His father had explained to him some time ago that all teenage boys go through the same thing and that, at fifteen years old, it was normal for Itachi to wake up with a sticky mess down his comfort clothes. _ ‘It is proof that you’re healthy and manly’ _ had said his father. Itachi had entered puberty like the rest of the young men his age and had noticed that his body had changed. He no longer had the looks of a child but the shape of a man. His chest and shoulders had grown wider and his face had matured. He looked and felt stronger and felt the slightest tinge of pride when Shisui had told him that he was now almost as tall as he was. By no means Itachi had the confidence to think of himself as handsome and he would _ surely not _ trust his mother’s opinion on the matter. He shuddered as he remembered she thought he was becoming a _ ‘striking young man’ _ as she once said to his aunt, much to Itachi’s embarrassment. 

But still, he was starting to feel different, inside and out. Itachi sighed again and got up to bathe. As he sat in the warm bath water, images of his dream ran through his mind again. He could practically smell her, her perfume enticing his senses. He hadn’t seen her in so long… How was it that he could see her still so clearly? How was it that he suddenly felt so enraptured with the idea of her and in such a way? I guess he always had found her attractive, even when they were children. But it was so much more than that... Itachi was just a man after all. He closed his eyes and let his hand wander down his body to the hardness down below and began to stroke himself. He soon began to relax and let his mind run free. He had to see her again. To hell with what she wanted, with what she had said to him all these years ago. He had long forgiven her for the pain she had caused him. He needed to see her face again, to look in her eyes again.

**…**

Miyeko had finally moved into her new apartment. She sat on her futon and looked around. She had spent the last couple days cleaning and making sure that everything was all set for her to finally resume her life in Konoha. The Hokage had sent some of his assistants to help her find a nice place to settle in and even went as far as to help her move in some furniture. Jiraiya had even swung by to have a look at her new place and she invited him for tea. She knew the minute she had settled he would leave once again for Mount Myoboku and this time without her. She had bought specialty tea for him, knowing very well his favorite kind. Miyeko had brought him his cup and he smiled, inhaling the soft scent of jasmine and vanilla. They sipped their tea until Jiraiya broke the silence. 

‘I’m glad you’ve found somewhere to settle down, Miyeko. Konoha has and will always be your home and mine. That’s why I must keep a watchful eye for threats outside of its walls. You must know by now that I won’t be staying in the village for very long after my visit.’ He said as he blew some steam away from his cup. Miyeko smiled. 

‘I know. You are the Frog _Hermit _after all, Sensei. I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but I’m going to miss you I think.’ She replied. Jiraiya smirked. He knew he was endearing, but the mighty Miyeko Nagaki saying she would miss him? He had to pinch himself to make sure he wasn’t imagining things. Still, he had grown attached to her. He can’t say he acted as a good father figure to her but after three years spent together, they had sure become close friends. He got used to her sleeping close to him. Until just a while ago, when she would wake up at night frightened from her nightmares, he would tuck her in and pet her head until she fell asleep again. They had shared meals together, sparred and trained together, pushed the limits of their bodies and shared laughter together. And they had had arguments. _Many._ And yet, Jiraiya could never stay mad her for very long. As he saw her transform from a scrawny little girl to a beautiful young woman, he changed along with her becoming a more patient and more supportive person. He learned to admire her resilience and her fighting spirit. And he would miss her playful smile. But not her attitude. No. That, he was _ sure _ he could live without. He gave her a warm look.

‘I trust you’ll do the right thing, Miyeko. You are not the same person you were three years ago when you left this village. I don’t see a broken little girl anymore when I look at you. I see _ you _. Now, don’t get too excited when you hear this, but… I’m proud of you. I’m proud of who you have become, Miyeko Nagaki, last of you clan, student of Jiraiya.’ He said with a goofy grin on his face. He looked in her deep emerald eyes. He could have sworn she just had rolled them at him, but he chose to ignore it. He had taught her everything he could and she had learned well. 

Miyeko looked at the man that had taken care of her for all this time and smiled. He didn’t have to do what he did but he did it anyway. He took every opportunity that presented itself to him to teach her everything he knew about almost everything. He clothed her, fed her, healed her injuries after their training sessions, he taught her important life lessons and he even showed her how to trust again. His generosity could hardly ever be repaid, she thought, and so to thank him she would live by his standards and honor his teachings. Now, it was time for him to leave and a hint of sadness could be felt in her voice when she spoke.

‘I wanted to thank you, Sensei. I wish I could say more of how I feel but no words will ever be strong enough to tell you just how grateful I am for what you did for me. You gave me a second chance at life. I promise I’ll make the most of it. Thank you.’ She said as she rose up, walked to him and embraced him deeply. Jiraiya was touched. Never had she ever given him a more heartfelt hug. He could feel her warmth as he wrapped his strong arms around her in a paternal embrace. Jiraiya knew he would never be able to have children and never really thought about it much more than he ever did at that moment. If he would have children, he would want them to grow up like Miyeko. 

‘You’re welcome, kid. Don’t forget who you are.’ He said. Miyeko’s eyes watered up as she remembered her sister’s last words. _ Don’t forget who you are. _Jiraiya was a perverted, twisted creature but heartless he was not. As she let go of him, Jiraiya rose up and cleared up their cups and suddenly laughed. She knew that laugh. Miyeko suddenly became very nervous. What had he done now?

‘There’s one more thing I have to tell you before I leave, Miyeko.’ He started. She listened to him with open ears.

‘I know you’re a Chunin and as soon as you are ready, you can take on missions again. You’ve already been cleared for that. But if I’m completely honest with you, these missions would be a waste of your potential. Have you considered becoming a Jonin?’ he asked, looking straight at her. She looked sideways and shrugged. 

‘Not really. I heard it was a complicated process to even be considered for the position. And I don’t know anyone in this village anymore who would have the influence…’ She replied. He smiled and placed a friendly hand on her shoulder. 

‘In this village, in order to become Jonin, you must be nominated by another high ranking shinobi of the same village. I have seen you fight and I trained you in all the arts of the shinobi. I am the man to know what you’re capable of and there is no doubt you’d be suited for the position. So I hope you won’t mind that I took it upon myself to recommend you personally to the Hokage for a promotion to Jonin. I arranged a meeting for you tomorrow with the Hokage, the village elders and the Head of ANBU for them to evaluate you. You need to be cleared by them in order to take on missions and to be promoted.’ Miyeko’s eyes were round with surprise. The curve in her lips as she smiled to him touched Jiraiya. 

‘And maybe one day, you’ll be a sensei too. You’ll be able to teach this village’s future generations what is means to be a shinobi.’ He could see her worry from the corner of his eye. 

‘What is it?’ he continued, his voice low and caring.

‘I’m not sure that I’m ready, sensei. What if… What if something terrible happens? What if I make a mistake? What if I hurt someone? I could never forgive myself...’ She said quietly. He knew exactly what she meant. After all this training, she was still unsure about her unusual powers and how to efficiently use them. He could see the anxiety in her body language, her eyes staring at the floor. Jiraiya was a tall man and in order to look at her straight in the eyes, he crouched down and placed his other hand on her shoulder, looking deep into her eyes. 

‘Fear is not an enemy, Miyeko. It’s what keeps us sharp and alert. I trust in your ability to control your powers and to remove yourself from any situation that would make you distrust your own abilities. You’re always underestimating your biggest strength.’ He said with a smile. She looked at him in confusion. 

‘Your resilience.’ He said in a chuckle. ‘You are the most stubborn, obstinate,_ infuriatingly _ willful person I know. But it’s that strong will of fire that fuels your thirst for knowledge, strength and balance. I trust in that quality of yours. I trust that you will discover the key to harness all of your potential. You’re so close to finding it, don’t give up. You just have to trust in _ yourself. _’ He said, patting her head proudly. She nodded silently.

‘I’ll do it, sensei. I’ll show them what I can do.’ She replied. Jiraiya then shrugged and laughed. 

‘And I’ll have a special prayer for anyone who is put in your way. May the gods preserve them, they’ll need all the help they can get.’ He said as he walked towards the door, his hand on the knob. Miyeko stood there and smiled at him. Her eyes had changed. She had found her new reason for living, thought Jiraiya. The will of fire burned bright in her heart once again, the flame that fueled her to become a better person for the sake of her home, the Leaf Village. Jiraya took a step outside the door, his zori sandal softly clapping at the ground. He took one last glance at her as the sun set behind him. Before he disappeared, she called out to him.

‘Oh, sensei! I’ll almost forgot!’ She started. ‘Your last novel…’ Jiraiya’s face twisted in annoyance at the apprehension of her critique. Ugh, did she have to say something about his writing too? 

‘Don’t you dare-’

‘The smut is _ absolute nonsense_. Chapter eight nearly gave me a brain aneurysm. But I guess the rest is fine .’ She said with a boastful gleam in her eye, her grin lit up the room. He sighed and rolled his eyes in annoyance. She always had to have the last word with him, he thought. He scratched his head and grunted. There’s no way she’d be able to understand the subtlety and the beauty of what he wrote, he thought. He laughed wholeheartedly but his laughter soon turned to embarrassment. Did she read… _ the whole thing _? Jiraiya felt somewhat uneasy that an underage girl read his superbly written ‘fantasy novels’ but then again, she always was an odd one. He sighed and nodded. 

‘It was too much, wasn’t it?’ he asked slowly.

‘Too _ damn _ much, you old pervert. And keep the butt stuff to a minimum. Trust me, your female audience will thank you for it.’ She said, thumbs in the air. He groaned. Even when she gave him constructive criticism, there was always this attitude to her. He shrugged and chuckled. Miyeko Nagaki would be the death of him. But she had a good heart. Maybe he’d change that part after all… This time, when he looked at her, he knew it was going to be the last time for a long time and he admired his tough little apprentice one more time before turning his back to her, exiting her home. 

‘See you around, kid.’ He said as he disappeared in a cloud of smoke, leaving Miyeko to live her new life. 

**...**

She had been summoned early that morning for her meeting with the Hokage and his entourage. Dressed simply in black, she had braided her long hair but no matter how tight her braid was, that pesky white strand of snowy white hair never wanted to look tamed and always fell down on her cheek. As her hand grabbed the doorknob leading to the Hokage’s office, she couldn’t help but feel a certain anxiety at meeting the old man after her long absence. He had offered her a chance to change. She hoped it was going to be enough for him to accept her in the village again. As she opened the door to his office, she was greeted by a tall, grey-haired ANBU officer who held the door open for her. She nodded at him gratefully and stepped in to look at the figures sitting next to the Third Hokage. The first was an elderly woman with a tight mouth and narrow eyes and the second was an aging man with dark grey hair and glasses. Miyeko thought that his face gave him a perpetual unimpressed look. The third figure was definitely more interesting to look at, she thought, noticing the man wrapped in bandages under his dark yukata. He must’ve been injured tremendously for him to be patched up that way. Even the left side of his face hadn’t been spared, bandages covering his wrinkling skin. His cross-shaped scar on his chin definitely gave a more aggravated look to his already piercing dark eyes. Their weathered appearance gave them a severe look and their narrow eyes were all on her. 

Miyeko had never been inspected that way by anyone. She felt they could see right through her. As she stood before them, she felt that she was already put on trial as they examined the way she inhaled, the way her arms rested on the sides of her body, how her untamed strand of white hair catching the bandaged man’s interest. His gaze met hers and the moment they’re eyes connected, Miyeko felt dark energy emanating from him as his eyes narrowed. He was hiding something. He was not just an old man, he was an old man with a very distinct energy and even more particular secrets. As she tried to inject her natural energy into him to pry further, she noticed his lips pursing as he resisted her attempt. He knew she was reaching out to feel his energy and the growing frown on his face indicated his displeasure created from her sensory outreach. He was trying to intimidate her, she thought. Little did this old man know that Miyeko Nagaki had seen much worse in her life than some decrepit old shinobi with accusing eyes staring her down. She had a feeling he was going to bring her more trouble than he was worth.

She turned her gaze to meet the Hokage’s, who bore a small smile on his face, his Hokage hat partially hiding the cataracts in his eyes. He rose up, putting all of his weight on his cane and walked towards Miyeko very slowly. Miyeko looked back at the older man approaching her. He seemed much older than the last time she saw him, his hands shaky and his hair now completely white. But even in his golden days, Hiruzen Sarutobi always had a warmth to him, his eyes still bright with hope and dreams for himself and for everyone under his protection in the village Hidden in the Leaf. His hand reached for hers and he pulled her closer to him in a fatherly embrace, earning a gasp from the elderly woman behind them. Miyeko smiled and returned his simple affections. ‘_ Look at you _.’ He started as he removed his hat to better inspect the young kunoichi in front of him. ‘You’ve grown so much.’ Hiruzen said to her, pride in his eyes. The Third Hokage had always enjoyed watching the future generations of shinobi grow before his eyes. It’s why he took on the mantle of Hokage, even back then. It’s what he had set himself out to do the moment he put on his Hokage robes in the morning to the moment he fell asleep at night: to see hope in the future generations and to help them pursue their dreams. This infuriated the female elder who bore a scandalized expression as she rose to her feet.

‘Hiruzen, don’t forget yourself! This is a _ formal _ meeting!’ She hissed at him. The Third Hokage let Miyeko go and turned around slowly and rolled his eyes at her. 

‘Oh, would you calm yourself already, Koharu. I haven’t seen the child in so long. I doubt a _ little _ informality will destroy this village.’ He said, indicating to her with his hand to sit down. Miyeko had never imagined the Third Hokage to be a bold man, but she had to admit he had a sense of authority no one could deny. As the Third Hokage sat down in his office chair again, Miyeko couldn’t help but feel like these village elders had something already set against her. None of them even acknowledge her presence and when they did, it was accusatory or with suspicion. She removed all nervousness from her mind and bowed to them. 

‘Thank you for making time in your day to meet me, all of you. The Council is too kind.’ she said, her long braid falling over her shoulder, the strand of loose white hair gently falling down on her chin. 

‘Miyeko Nagaki. You have been recommended for a promotion to Jonin by the Sannin Jiraiya, one of Konoha’s highest-ranking shinobi. I must commend you for this feat, however…’ Started Homura Mitokado as he pushed his glasses back on his nose. ‘You have not been on active duty in nearly three years and yet he testifies that you are ready to take on the responsibilities of a high ranking shinobi officer. Can you tell me why?’ He asked, looking straight into Miyeko’s green eyes. Miyeko inhaled deeply.

‘I have been drilled day and night in the higher arts of shinobi, Mister Homura. The training I received from my sensei Jiraiya opened my eyes to the realities of the sacrifices a shinobi must make for the greater good of his people and his home. It was the values he passed on to me.’ She replied calmly. 

‘What kind of training did you undertake on Mount Myoboku, child?’ He continued, his arms crossed. Miyeko executed herself.

‘We sharpened my hand to hand combat skills, practiced Ninjutsu daily to broaden my array of techniques and because of his teachings, I learned to practice the art of natural energy release.’ She replied, earning several discrediting chuckles from Koharu Utatane as she shook her head disapprovingly. 

‘Hiruzen… I knew Jiraiya was an eccentric individual, I just didn’t know the extent of his unorthodox ideas of grandeur. To make me want to believe this child practices Senjutsu, to make me want to believe that she is a sage? What a farce, Hiruzen.’ She replied with a sigh, earning an indignant snort from the Third Hokage. Miyeko swallowed with great difficulty as the harsh words echoed in the room filled with books, scrolls and mission statements. Hiruzen could see the nervousness overtaking the young woman’s body as he noticed her sweaty palms. Her face was of stone, like a true shinobi. Superb skills of emotional concealment, thought Hiruzen Sarutobi as he noticed the young woman showed nothing but a veil of indifference on her face. Danzo stayed silent, observing her every move, her every breath. But to the Third Hokage’s surprise, Danzo leaned forward and smiled.

‘Show us.’ He asked, his hands folded over the pommel of his cane as he put all of his weight on his. Miyeko looked at the ground silently and sighed. 

As she sat on the floor with her legs crossed and her hands placed in the tiger hand sign, Miyeko inhaled deeply as her audience sat silently and watched her with a curious yet suspicious eye. Only the Third Hokage seemed at ease as he filled his pipe with tobacco and lit it with a match. Hiruzen’s eyes were fixed on the girl and his gaze never wavered, even beyond the thick smoke he exhaled. Miyeko could feel the energy amassing around her. It glided on her skin and caressed her hair. As she slowly let this energy enter her body, she could feel her own chakra barriers letting in this foreign yet warm energy that she pooled in the pit of her stomach, where her own chakra source was the strongest and the most potent. She made sure to control the amount of ingested chakra completely, always keeping a steady breathing pattern. From the outside, nothing was happening to her. She was just sitting very still, her hands almost fused together in an ancient hand sign. 

To Hiruzen, Koharu, Homura and Danzo, Miyeko appeared to be meditating. But inside her body, Miyeko was preparing this mixture of natural, physical and spiritual energy, letting is brew inside her. With one deep breath, she let this newly formed chakra flow from the pit of her stomach to her chest and her extremities. She basked in this energy, her body getting accustomed to it as her chakra paths opened up fully, letting the energy inside her fulfill her completely. She was in control of it and it was now ready to respond to her will. An impatient groan was heard from Koharu’s seat, making Danzo lean in closer on his cane to observe what he thought his eye was playing tricks on him. Something in her had changed. 

‘Hiruzen, stop this immediately, can’t you see she can’t - ** _ARGH!_ ** ’ squealed Koharu as the cup of tea she was holding suddenly exploded into thousands of pottery shards, the content of it spilling all over her pale purple kimono. Danzo’s naked eye opened wide in stupor and his mouth opened to growl but his actions were interrupted by the crack of his severed cane under his weight. He fell over his seat and landed on the floor with a loud thump, his covered arm brutally taking the brunt of the fall. He looked at his cane with an incredulous expression. _ It has been cut in half._ But not just cut in half: it had been sharply, ever so precisely slashed apart with what seemed to be the sharpest blade of all. He groaned in discomfort and embarrassment as he regained his composure, glaring at the young Nagaki prodigy, who had just seemingly shamed two of the Council members with an invisible force. It was as if an extension of her body had smashed Koharu’s cup and sliced his cane in two, thought Danzo. How could this be? What this the power of a sage? As Miyeko stood up, Koharu rose to her feet, her kimono dripping from the hot tea that had spilled on her. 

‘**_Hiruzen!_ ** _ What’s the meaning of this? _’ She growled in anger. Hiruzen’s then chuckles turned into a deep laughter, which seemed to irritate the female elder beyond known words. He inhaled from his pipe and blew the smoke towards a now livid Koharu, who tried to repel with her hands. Danzo sharply leered at Hiruzen, his long-time rival and main opposition in the council. 

‘_I want answers, Sarutobi!_ **What happened?**’ he growled as he angrily picked up the pieces from his cane and put it on his lap. Hiruzen gave a telling look to Danzo and smiled.

‘_Exactly what_ you asked for, my dear Danzo. A Senjutsu demonstration. And a very good one too.’ He replied, his breathing trailing a chuckle. He looked at Miyeko Nagaki’s emotionless expression. _ What spunk _ , he thought. Not only did she ever prove the potential of her abilities, but she had humiliated two of his most annoyingly reluctant council members. To use such natural energy release in such a precise and focused manner, to create an extension of her own chakra to perform pinpointed attacks… Jiraiya was right, thought Hiruzen as he observed the young Nagaki kunoichi. She truly was gifted in the art of natural release. He could see a faint arrogant smirk on Miyeko’s face. Danzo’s saw the curve in her lips and his own became thin with rage, his lower lip trembling with anger. She had mocked him. Him! The great Danzo Himura, commander in chief of the ANBU, Konoha’s most influential advisor and next in line to become Hokage, shamed by the magic trick of a little girl. In his fury, his eyes had locked on to her. His attention was caught by Miyeko’s white strand of hair once again. In his shame, he remembered the violent swing her now-deceased sister had taken to his face all these years ago before disobeying his orders. He could see Kuri's likeness in this young kunoichi. They had the same sharp eyes, the same arrogance, the same desire to prove themselves, the same will to resist him. He could see _her_ in this child. It only made his anger more apparent.

Koharu stormed outside the room angrily, passing by Miyeko and gave her a nasty look while Danzo’s blood boiled in his veins as he remained silent and brooding on his chair, his only uncovered eye squinted in seething silent rage. Hiruzen was convinced. She was ready for her trials as a Jonin. He gave a side look to his old partner Homura and he nodded silently, approving Hiruzen’s decision. 

‘Well, Miyeko Nagaki, only a thoroughly trained shinobi could do what you just did before us today. It is my will and the_ Council's _ …’ he started, keeping an eye on Danzo. ‘...That you may now be promoted to the rank of Jonin of the Hidden Leaf Village. I believe in the word of my old apprentice. When he spoke of your prowess and character, he did so with pride and truth. You have lived through personal trauma and have pulled through in your training. You are the proof that the past is only a key to success, young one. It is a lesson that the wisest amongst us still need to learn.’ He said to her, his words like stabs in the chest to Danzo. _ That damned Hiruzen! _ He thought. He will be the end of the Hidden Leaf Village. As Danzo rose to his feet, he stumbled and was quickly caught by his fellow councilman Homura. 

‘You’re too soft, Sarutobi! One day, people like her will take advantage of your soft heart and will destroy Konoha from within. You’ll only have yourself to blame then, you old fool.’ He said as Homura walked him towards the office door. As he passed Miyeko, he stopped walking and looked down on her. He returned his gaze, her deep green eyes meeting his dark ones. 

‘Listen to me you arrogant little wench. You can try to fool the Third but _ I know what you are._ Deep down, we both know you are an abomination. You are alive today only by the grace of this old pushover. You ought to remember your place and remember it well. The day will come when the demons your hide come out and prove to everyone why you are still known today as Konoha’s Shinigami. I promise when the time comes that I will have the last laugh.’ He said in a deep, sinister voice as he exited the room, two ANBU helping him walk. 

Only the Third Hokage and Miyeko were left in his office. As the grey-haired ANBU closed the door behind the two council members, Miyeko turned around to face the elder Hokage with a devious grin. Hiruzen shook his head slowly and let out a long sigh.

‘Tell me you didn’t do this on purpose, Miyeko.’ He asked. She shrugged.

‘Do you want me to tell you that I did this by accident?’ She replied to him. 

‘It would appease my poor old soul, yes.’ He continued, a smirk etched on his weary face.

‘Then yes, Lord Hokage, it was a mistake on my part. _ Purely accidental._ Forgive me.’ She said with an arrogant curve to her lip.

The Third Hokage chuckled and reached for something in his drawer. He pulled out a neatly packaged parcel and handed it to Miyeko. ‘Open it. I already had it made for you. You will need it for your first Jonin mission tomorrow.’ He said. Miyeko curiously pulled the package string top reveal a Jonin uniform, tailor-made for her. She smiled as she saw the shade of black of the vest and pants and she immediately bowed before the Hokage, showing her gratitude.

‘This is too kind, Lord Hokage. I’m grateful for everything you have done for me. But I have a question. Why am I allowed to wear black? The other Jonins wear a green vest and navy garments…’ She asked, her voice trailing off. The Hokage smiled.

‘Because as Danzo said, you are Konoha’s Shinigami. And a Shinigami doesn’t wear green. It blends in the shadows and takes the souls of this village’s enemies. When they see this uniform…’ He started as he exhaled a thick cloud of smoke. ‘They will know that Konoha is protected by the Nagaki clan once again.’ He said. Miyeko tried her best to hide her watering eyes. 

‘Now.’ Said the Hokage, gesturing to the grey-haired ANBU at the door to come closer. ‘Your mission tomorrow will involve this ANBU captain’s squad. Dog, I will leave it up to you to brief our new addition on her role in the A rank mission your squad has been assigned. You are dismissed, the two of you.’ He said. She followed the masked man outside the office. As he closed the door, she took a look at his and raised an eyebrow. 

‘_Dog _ ? You allow people to call you _dog _? Don’t you have any respect for yourself?’ she asked, incredulous. A soft laugh escaped the tall man’s mouth.

‘It’s just my code name, relax.’ He said as he removed his mask, revealing his face. Miyeko blinked in stupor. Even if the grey-haired stranger wore a mask, had a lazy appearance and looked like he hadn’t brushed his hair in weeks, she couldn’t help but admire his unique beauty. He offered his hand. 

‘My real name is Kakashi. Hatake Kakashi. I’ll be your squad leader for tomorrow’s mission. You’ll find all the information relating to your position in my squad in this mission scroll. I’m not going to lie to you, Miyeko. This mission will be hard. Espionage and assassination of important people are usually not missions suited for regular Jonins. But I’ve heard of your exceptional stealth and… well, your _ other _skills. When I heard of your return to the village, I had to see for myself if your nickname had any validity to it.’ He said. He noticed how displeased she looked as a frown appeared on her face.

‘I _don’t like_ that nickname, Kakashi. I’m not a circus freak. But I _ will _ be Konoha’s Shinigami to protect my home against anyone who would harm it.’ She said with a familiar sadness in her voice. He shrugged nonchalantly, seemingly indifferent to her reaction. 

‘I don’t especially care that you dislike your nickname. That is none of my business. In any case, I also thought you’d be a good fit for my squad considering you already know one of its members. Makes the teamwork more organic and stuff.’ He stated with growing disinterest in his voice. But she had caught on to what he said and raised an eyebrow in confusion.

‘Who?’ She asked. He exhaled lazily and gave her a bored look.

‘Itachi Uchiha.’


	12. Two Hearts

> He who forgives and acknowledges himself... that is what it truly means to be strong.

Kakashi Hatake woke up from a dreamless sleep before dawn the next morning. He got up and walked to the kitchen and turned on the kettle to prepare tea. He anxiously ran his fingers through his thick grey hair and massaged his temples, trying to get rid of the feeling of apprehension he always felt when he woke up every morning. His legs were stiff from the training he had with Might Guy the night before, his arms blue in some areas from blocking the Taijutsu expert's kicks. He walked to the washroom to wash his bare face and looked at himself in the mirror, his tired eyes gazing upon his naked reflection.

His skin was pale and tired bags had taken permanent residence under his dark grey eyes, giving him a ghostly appearance. He then looked at his messy hair and shrugged. Nothing could be done to help that situation, he thought to himself. He had tried to tame the mane of grey hair for years now but it had a mind of its own and never truly cooperated with the Jonin and ultimately always infuriated him whenever he tried to comb it down. His gaze fell upon the reflection of his shoulders. The right one had been broken at least twice and the left one dislocated on many occasions. His eyes wandered down again, inspecting his chest and rib cage. Kakashi's hand trailed on his skin and his fingers brushed along a now faded scar that ran from under his pectoral muscle all the way to his side. He remembered how he got that scar. It came from a rogue Kirigakure shinobi. He hadn't been careful enough and the man had sliced him open, leaving his mark on Kakashi's body before the grey-haired shinobi took his life with the Chidori.

Kakashi sighed. He then looked at his rib cage and inspected the slight crevice in his skin over his lower right ribs, where one shouldn't exist. Kakashi smirked at the memory of his own stupidity. _Fucking Gai_, he thought as he remembered just how painful it had been to challenge Guy's Leaf Hurricane technique. _'Go on. You can't hurt me even if you try, Gai. I'm not going to block, I don't need to. I won't even be bruised, I swear.'_ A few seconds later, Kakashi had learned just how cracked ribs could ruin someone's day as Guy rushed him to the hospital, crying and apologizing profusely to his genius rival whom he bodied with all of his might. _Good times_, thought Kakashi as he let his eyes wander down the reflection of his well-defined arms.

Bruises all over. He was used to seeing those. Training with his rival had always given Kakashi more than his fair share of physical injuries and it was part of a life of the shinobi to have a growing collection of broken bones and purple bruises all over. He couldn't count the number of times he saw his own blood. His body had been strained so many times it was a miracle he was still able to stand. But that didn't bother him as much as the newer physical problems that had surfaced. First, there was his right arm. He had told the village's medical team that a certain nervous tingle had taken over his body in the last couple of months and that his right hand often cramped and seized during missions and also during mundane activities as well.

At first, Kakashi thought it had been because he did not often stretch his hand and arm after strenuous exercise but even with implementing a diligent routine of physiotherapy on his right arm, it always ended up with the same result. He brushed his finger on the skin of his arm and hand. Slight scarring covered his skin and looked like burn marks. He knew the Chidori was a risky Jutsu to use and it had left abrasion spots on his skin from the intensity of his electric chakra manipulation. He had then started to wear fingerless gloves from keeping others noticing his scarring too. He groaned annoyingly and rolled his eyes lazily. He could add that up to his list of injuries. But what scared him the most wasn't the scars on his body. It was something else entirely, something he couldn't heal from, no matter how hard he tried.

He felt this other pain constantly. It was hurting him and cutting deeper than a regular wound. He ached all over for years now, not able to pinpoint the exact source of his misery. After many physical health checks and examinations, the village's medics couldn't tell what was wrong with him. He had told them that his chest always felt heavy no matter the amount of medication he took. His breathing was constantly labored and it affected him from morning until he fell asleep at night. His lungs had been checked on countless occasions but Kakashi had a perfect set of clean and healthy lungs. They had then checked his oxygen levels, but once again, Kakashi proved to be the pinnacle of health in that department. Then why did he always feel so constricted, his breathing labored and shaky all the time? As he finished cleaning up, he took one last glance at himself in the mirror and sighed deeply. Despite being twenty-three years old, Kakashi's body ached physically like the one of a fifty-year-old man. He often felt physically crippled after lengthy missions where he had to use his special technique, the Chidori and felt even worse when he revealed and used his Sharingan eye too often. And he feared that his physical exhaustion was taking a much larger toll on him than just on his body.

He didn't have time to think about the pressure on his chest nor his physical and mental exhaustion. He cleaned the rest of his stiff body and dressed up, pulling up a dark blue mask on his face like he did every day before exiting his house. As he filled his shinobi pouches with weapons and bandages, he couldn't help but focus on his next mission. The mission his team had been assigned to today was an assignment he could not afford to mess up as an ANBU Black Ops squad captain. The assassination of the Prajna Group of the Lands of Wood was of the utmost importance and Kakashi would be damned if his mission wasn't a success. Never had he failed an ANBU mission before. And it wasn't going to be any different this time around. His team was strong and stable. The individuals forming his squad were of exceptional talents and their skills complemented Kakashi's own, matching him both in Ninjutsu prowess and intelligence. His first squad member was Yoji Aburame, a talented youth of the insect clan of Aburame. His specialty was the use of insects to absorb his enemies' chakra and poison them using a special brand of kochu bug that would paralyze the user's foes long enough for them to be interrogated and then later killed. His assassination skills were close to none and Kakashi needed his mastery of bugs for lowkey and silent assassinations.

His second squad member, Yugao Uzuki, was an exceptionally talented swordswoman and a sealing technique expert. When a blade was needed to cut someone's throat, Yugao was who Kakashi called on. Her Fuinjutsu skills to later seal and dispose of an enemy's corpse had been one of the reasons why Kakashi had personally asked her to join his squad. Killing an enemy is one thing, thought Kakashi. Sealing its secrets, its techniques and its memories so no harm would come to Konoha was another. Yugao was trained in the arts of the samurai and would gladly give her life for a mission's success, something that Kakashi deeply respected. His third squad member was a young man called Tenzo. Tenzo had respectable shinobi talents and was very good at listening to everything Kakashi said and to never question his decisions. He had been wary of Tenzo's skills as a shinobi until he saw exactly why this boy with no name came to be one of Konoha's ultimate weapons. He was a Wood release user, the first of his kind since the passing of the First Hokage. Kakashi didn't inquire about the obscure ways one would acquire such a Kekkei Genkai nor about Tenzo's past life before he entered ANBU but he cared for the passion of the young shinobi and how fervent he was to protect his village even if it meant being targeted by other nations because of his rare chakra nature release. Tenzo not only used Wood release proficiently but he also was a swift thinker, had massive reserves of chakra, possessed a natural Genjutsu sensory ability and was to Kakashi's embarrassment, one of the only people in the village who could bear his anxieties during a stressful situation and make Kakashi calm and focused again. To Kakashi Hatake, Tenzo was, in a sense, his most important squad member.

And then there was the newest addition to his squad, Itachi Uchiha, the prodigy of the Uchiha clan. At fifteen years old, Itachi Uchiha was considered to be one of Konoha's most talented ninjas. Being a naturally born Sharingan user, Itachi had proficiency in Taijutsu, Genjutsu, and Ninjutsu, something that was quite rare amongst even the most elite members of Konoha's military. His eyes could see through deceptions and lies, enemy movements and chakra patterns. The speed he possessed rivaled even Kakashi's own. But that's not why Kakashi chose Itachi to be his last squad member. His sharp intellect and superior sense of strategy had charmed the Hatake clansman. His mind was so acute that even Kakashi had to rely on the Uchiha youth for council whenever he doubted his own logical reasoning. Kakashi had thought that Itachi had been too young, at twelve, to be part of an ANBU team and yet the Uchiha youth proved to be the perfect addition to balance his team's skills. He was so very silent and closed off to the world around him, thought Kakashi. Kakashi saw a bit of himself in the prodigal Uchiha boy and promised himself to keep a close watch on him and his talents. Kakashi only hoped that bringing a temporary familiar element to his team would make him come out of his shell before it was too late for him.

**…**

Itachi Uchiha had been sitting on the steps of Konoha's temple for half an hour now, awaiting his ANBU squad's arrival. He was used to being the first to arrive at their usual meeting spot and always took the time to read his assignations meticulously before Captain's briefing. On any other morning before of his squad's departure, he would patiently read his role for his mission and would take notes on the situation at hand, memorizing the enemy's entry in the Bingo book, the individual's looks and of course, the array of techniques used to better predict the outcome of the mission. But on that specific morning, Itachi's thoughts were troubled and he was unable to focus on the scroll in his hand and its content. His hands were shaky and he felt a bead of sweat form on his brow. His muscles were tense with anxious anticipation and his stomach was twisted in knots. As he tried to read his mission tasks, Itachi's thoughts could only wander in the darkest corners of his mind to try and remember her voice from his dream. He sighed heavily and ran his fingers in his jet black hair, pushing back the locks that caressed his cheeks. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. He needed to focus. This mission he was about to undertake could make or break the fragile peace established between the Land of Fire and the Land of Woods and his insomnia couldn't be a determining factor in his mission's success rate. He needed to stay sharp, focused and stoic for the sake of his squad and their survival. But the familiar stranger that would join his team today brought him a brand of anxiety he was unaccustomed to that made his mind hazy and undisciplined. As he exhaled deeply, he heard someone's footsteps coming his way. He opened his onyx eyes and gazed upon Yoji Aburame's tall figure who had taken a seat next to the young Uchiha prodigy.

'Looks like someone had a rough night. Again. You seem to not grasp the concept of sleep, Itachi.' snickered the older Aburame clansman, wearing a smirk on his pale face. Itachi shrugged passively and sighed.

'Good morning to you too.' He said as he looked away from the insect user. 'I do understand the notion of sleep, Yoji. What I don't understand is the reason why you meddle in my affairs.' Replied Itachi as he moved his body away from Yoji.

'It's because we care about you, _genius_.' Said a woman who had appeared out of thin smoke on the steps behind Itachi. The long-legged, purple-haired swordswoman had taken a seat behind Itachi and grabbed the sheath of her long katana in her hand to pull out a silver bladed sword to polish.

'You're so young and fresh, my dear. I wouldn't want you to meet an unfortunate end because of exhaustion. What do you dream about at your age that's so scary anyways, naked girls?' She said with an exaggerated mocking gasp. Yoji chuckled and shook his head. Itachi rolled his eyes and sighed. Yoji put a hand on his shoulder and turned around to face Yugao.

'Yugao, stop tormenting him. I don't blame him for having nightmares about girls. Women _are_ scary.' Replied Yoji as he looked at Yugao with a mischievous grin. She frowned and growled.

'Why are you looking at me like that, roach brain? And who were you referring to when you said 'women are scary'? Surely you wouldn't say that about me, _right_?' She continued, unsheathing her blade and pointing the tip at Yoji Aburame's throat. He didn't move, only grinned at her, mocking her with his demeanor. Another cloud of smoke revealed a crouched Tenzo as he placed a friendly hand on Yugao's shoulder.

'No, I'm pretty sure he was talking about his Akimichi girlfriend.' Said Tenzo with a silly grin on his face as he watched Yoji angrily turn around to point fingers at him.

'I least I _have _a girlfriend, log face! Look at you, all single and miserable! It's no surprise that with that ugly mug of yours, the only thing you would attract is a blind cactus!' He said as he leered at the wood user. Itachi groaned in annoyance. He was put on this ANBU squad two years ago and ever since he's been plagued with their volatile exchanges and insults that only brought him shame and disgrace. An apparition of smoke appeared before them and revealed a tall grey-haired squad captain. Itachi sighed in relief at the sight of the usually serious and calm Kakashi Hatake. He was the only one of his entire ANBU team that could bring order and peace when bickering arose. His signature dark mask hid his undeniable smirk as his voice brought his squad members to order.

'Now, now, friends. Let's all get along. There's no need to talk in such a way.' he said as he looked at his squad members sitting on the temple steps. 'It goes without saying that the cactus deserves better than Tenzo.' Replied Kakashi coolly, earning a furious blush from his ANBU wood releaser subordinate as he crossed his arms, his mouth in an unimpressed pout.

As he looked at an embarrassed Tenzo, Kakashi smiled as he was reminded of an old friend of his who had died in the last Ninja War, a very dear friend to Kakashi's heart that had given his life to save his. His heart skipped a beat every time he was reminded of his fallen comrade and had to look away from Tenzo to get back in focused headspace. Ever since then, Kakashi had a reluctance to any personal display of affection or friendship with anyone and as much as he trusted his squad, he would never interact with them outside of missions in any way. During assignments, he would eat, sleep and train away from them to maintain this invisible barrier that he built for himself in order for them to respect him as higher-ranked shinobi and to obey his commands. He asked for nothing more of them than to compliment his own skills and to follow orders. Outside of these very specific and already predetermined demands, Kakashi was a shadow to them. The less they knew about him, the better their lives would be in the end.

Kakashi sighed and narrowed his vision on his young Uchiha subordinate. The last talk he had with him had left him with a sour taste in his mouth. Itachi Uchiha seemed exhausted again, his bangs covering his tired under eyes, his hands closed together and his arms lying on his legs. For his age, Itachi Uchiha was very mature and his calmness really impressed the Hatake squad captain. All of them were so talented, they really were, and it was a surprise to Kakashi that no one had noticed the single person missing from this mission squad. Kakashi's silly grin caught the attention of Yugao, who frowned in confusion.

'Captain, why are you smiling? This is so unlike you. You're making me nervous.' she said, sheathing her katana. Kakashi's chuckles made Yoji's heart beat faster with anxiety as Kakashi unfolded his arms to run a hand through his thick, messy grey mane.

'I hate it when he does that.' Yoji stated, his palms getting sweaty with nervousness. Itachi simply narrowed his eyes at his captain, trying to make sense of Kakashi's cryptic laughter.

'What's so funny, captain? Finally caught on to yesterday's joke?' continued Yugao, earning a nudge from Tenzo as he swallowed hard. Antagonizing Kakashi Hatake was a very, _very_ bad idea, he thought. Kakashi sighed and seemed somewhat exasperated.

'Oh it's nothing.' he said, mocking to wipe away a tear of laughter from his naked eye. 'It's just… it's funny to me that one of Konoha's most elite team comprising of special tacticians in espionage and assassination couldn't even sense the presence of an intruder amongst themselves.' He said as he cleared his throat, his voice sharply coming back to a more serious tone. Yoji turned to his squad members in confusion, Yugao sharing his puzzled expression. Tenzo had been caught off guard and dropped the shuriken he was spinning around his finger on the temple steps, making a distinct clink noise as it fell to the ground. As he bent over to pick it up, he gasped as he saw a strange figure come out of his own shadow to materialize next to him, bending over to pick his shuriken and standing straight again to hand it to him. His perplexed expression made Kakashi smirk as he observed the figure transform itself into the shape of a young woman, her long black hair falling over her shoulder and her black uniform pristine and clean under the soft warm sunlight. Tenzo blinked in surprise as she handed him his shuriken, the tiny star-shaped blade hanging from her finger.

'I think you dropped this.' she said, giving him an enigmatic but warm smile. Tenzo's mouth was slightly agape out of shock. How could he have not sensed her energy? And how long had she been hiding in his shadow? What kind of technique was that? His bewildered thoughts were interrupted by her walking past him as she marched down the steps next to Yoji Aburame and joined Kakashi to stand in front of his now seemingly stumped squad. The long-haired kunoichi had taken Tenzo, the most advanced sensory type shinobi of his team by surprise. He had his doubts when the Third Hokage had proposed the young Nagaki kunoichi – a complete stranger and outcast - to join his ANBU squad for his next mission but now that she had executed the Shadow Immersion technique, one of Konoha's Shadow Dweller's signature moves to perfection, he couldn't help but smile to himself. He would never doubt the old man's decisions ever again.

Kakashi took notice of Yugao, Tenzo and Yoji's bewildered expressions. Yugao's lips pinched in indignation and Yoji's frown deepened as they took a closer look at the dark-haired stranger that had seemingly appeared out of thin air – out of shadows - to join their team. Yugao glared at Tenzo and scuffed, unimpressed while bearing a dissatisfied expression on her face.

'Seems you can't even sense a little girl. Good going, Tenzo.' she said. Tenzo's mouth had turned into a vexed pout as he sat down on the temple steps, somewhat vexed that his sensory skills had been questioned. Kakashi noticed that only one out of his team not vexed by the appearance of this black-haired stranger was none other than the young Uchiha prodigy Itachi Uchiha, whose gaze was transfixed on the newly appointed Jonin that stood next to his captain.

Itachi Uchiha had forgotten the presence of his team around him. The wind blew in his long black hair and grazed his skin, his gaze focused entirely on her. Her. The person he had been waiting to see again for three long years. The person he longed to talk to, to look at, to take in his arms once more, the only person he ever wanted to open up to been brought back to him by destiny once again. His breath had been taken away, his heart pounding heavily in his chest. He felt his whole body going immobile, his mouth slightly agape as his eyes explored her features he knew so well. She had been exactly like he envisioned in his dreams. Her long black hair was so familiar to him and her single strand of snowy white hair brought a sense of warmth he desired to feel for so long in his heart. It was like Itachi Uchiha could swim back to the surface and breathe deeply for the first time in three years, his mind awoken from its dark slumber.

Time had stopped for him the moment he laid eyes on her. Her strong and lean figure was as alluring to him as he had always envisioned in the depth of night, her soft ivory skin contrasting with the dark color of her Jonin uniform. The softness in her facial features had given place to high cheekbones and a small hint of rose on her cheeks. He tried to conceal his emotions the best he could but soon found himself trapped in his own singular version of limbo when her eyes riveted on him to meet his own gaze. Her deep green orbs had the same shade of emerald he remembered from years ago but her gaze was far more intense than the girlish looks she gave him when they were children. As she intensely looked into his onyx eyes, Itachi felt his hands become sweaty, a known sign of nervousness. The boastful look they once held was gone. Her gaze was cold. _So very cold_. He longed for her smile, her warm smile. He could hear his heart beating in his ears. Her eyes still glimmered like jewels to him despite the cold look she gave him. Her milky skin looked so soft and her hair so silky to the touch. Even the graceful yet strong lines of her body called for his attention. She had taken his breath away. He was used to not having expectations of people and of life in general, knowing perfectly well that being a shinobi meant he was ready to give his life to defend his home and yet when he looked at her… Is this what Shisui meant when he said to him many moons ago how he saw his future when he saw Kuri Nagaki? She looked like the young woman he saw in his vision when he was a child, the one he shared with her when what seemed to be a lifetime ago. She looked so different and yet a sense of familiarity emanated from her being, something so soothing and natural that called to Itachi. His thoughts were in turmoil. How he wanted her to look at him like she used to. If only she would give him this look of her of acknowledgment, love, and trust she once gave him. But she ignored him completely.

The long silent stare between the young Uchiha and the Nagaki girl made Kakashi Hatake roll his eyes. He could feel the tension between the two teenagers as so did his other teammates, Yugao fascinated by just how the young woman had captivated the usually silent and disinterested Itachi Uchiha. Tenzo and Yoji's gazes met in a confused and intrigued look. But Itachi's hope that Miyeko would show him recognition was crushed when she quickly looked away from him, breaking the eye contact with him. He also looked away, winded and silent. _Focus on the mission_, he thought to himself. He had to focus his mind on his objective. Kakashi sighed in relief as he saw Itachi Uchiha return to his usual stoic self and rubbed the back of his head again.

'You lot. This is Miyeko Nagaki. As the mission scroll states, she will accompany us in this mission and will play the role of close-range battle and sensory specialist. Her sensory abilities exceed even my own. She will pick apart the enemy's offense and defense from a distance and will detect the enemy's movements as we close in on them. You will assume your respective roles and report any anomaly to me.' said Kakashi, the seriousness in his tone indicating to his team that the mission they were going to embark on was one of high difficulty.

'Our target is three days of fast traveling from here. I suggest keeping a close watch on your chakra reserves as we move. It is crucial to the mission that we move as one tightly knit unit. The tracker, meaning myself, will be traveling at the front of the party and the sensory specialist, being Miyeko, at the back. The Land of Woods is a treacherous land of many poisonous plants. Antidotes will come in handy if one of the said plants come in contact with your skin – _yes_, I was looking at you Tenzo. Your sensitive skin always gets you into trouble. Yoji has prepared the concoctions and carries them for us. Itachi will analyze our immediate surroundings with the Sharingan and Yugao will assist him in his position.' Kakashi said as he pointed to Itachi and Yugao, their eyes on him.

'You will move as the central part of our little happy wedding crashing party. Tenzo, in the eventuality that we are ambushed, you will build walls around us so Itachi and I can make secondary plans of travel for our squad. This may sound a little extreme for traveling strategies but…' continued Kakashi, a severe tone in his voice.

'I will need every single one of you alive for the success of this mission. After all, our target is the highly skilled and terrorist Prajna Group, individuals that seek war between the Land of Fire and the Land of Woods. Eliminating them may bring a truce and eventually indefinite peace between our country and theirs. It is of utmost importance that we take care of business swiftly and efficiently. If I am captured or killed, Itachi Uchiha will become your temporary leader until the squad makes it back to Headquarters. I will disclose more details to you along the way. Team Ro…' he said, all eyes riveted on him. He sighed. 'Let's move out.'

And with that, Team Ro vanished, leaving no trace behind.

**…**

The past two days of traveling had been grueling, even for Miyeko Nagaki. Using her Senjutsu abilities to heighten her sensory skills had taken a lot of energy from her. Team Ro hadn't come across any trouble just yet and had even managed to move quicker than expected, the hellish pace they had been traveling at giving them more time for last-minute preparations before their planned infiltration. Miyeko had stayed silent the entire time, observing her surroundings, making herself familiar with the presence of people once again. Three years on Myoboku Mountain with Jiraiya had made her somewhat of a recluse and she enjoyed the silence that Team Ro so keenly offered her. Never in her life had she been feeling so sorted out of place. And when they paid attention to her, it was with suspicion in their eyes. She understood their reluctance to interact with her. They had been wary of her. None of them spoke a word to her since they had departed from Konoha, not even her team captain, Kakashi Hatake, who only communicated with her with silent nods and occasional approving or disapproving grunts. She knew she was an outsider and outsiders were rarely accepted in the ANBU. She had to wonder why the Third Hokage assigned this mission to her knowing perfectly well she was still considered an outcast, a deserter to many people in her village.

They had been traveling for the past thirty-six hours without a break longer than thirty minutes twice a day, solely to eat and replenish their strength before they moved on to the next checkpoint Kakashi had set for them. To say that Team Ro was exhausted was an understament. But none of them showed the slightest sign of fatigue. The sunset quickly caught up to them and with one single hand movement, Kakashi gestured to the team fast traveling behind him to stop. As they regrouped on the Land of Woods' thick luscious forest grounds, Kakashi Hatake simply instructed them to stay together for the rest of the evening and to eat a warm meal to replenish their strength. He then disappeared from their location in silence. Miyeko sighed as she walked towards her squad members, her travel pack weighing on her back.

She had taken place under a thick tree and had sat down, her back leaning on its trunk as she observed Yugao and Yoji prepare their meals over a small fire, Tenzo offering them drinks as they snickered together. They seemed like a cohesive team, thought Miyeko as she took out a wet stone out of her pack and started sharpening the kunai bladed that had been lying at the bottom of her weapon's pouch. The flames shadows dangled on her darkening surroundings as she kept to herself, slowly eating her meal in silence, away from Team Ro. And then she felt it. Someone's gaze on her. She slowly raised her eyes and froze. She could feel her skin burning under his intense gaze and focused her attention on the silhouette that sat on the opposite side of their perimeter, his dark eyes staring straight at her. As much as she tried to ignore Itachi Uchiha's intense stare, she couldn't help but feel knots in her stomach at the thought of even attempting to initiate a conversation with him. The intensity and the depth of his expression made her uneasy like he was analyzing her entire being from head to toe. She could feel his onyx eyes studying her every movement, from the way she ate her food to the way her pesky white strand of hair caressed her face. His breathing was relaxed, his demeanor calm and collected. And yet she felt his prying eyes on her still, as if he was waiting for her to share this exchange with him. She ignored him once again. Itachi had to talk to himself in order to break his stare. Think of the mission, he thought. Think about your objective, his thoughts screamed as he tried to forget the feeling of sadness that was overcoming his heart as she refused to acknowledge his existence.

Night had now fallen and Miyeko grabbed a book out of her satchel and read calmly to the background noise of Yugao, Yoji and Tenzo's conversation as the fire warmed them in the cold night. Miyeko felt a shiver on her skin from the cold rising wind but refused to move closer to the fire. She preferred the coldness and the dark of the night to any forced social activity. And then something was thrown her way. She lowered her book and grabbed the small package that had been thrown her way by the tall and elegant Yugao. Miyeko smiled shyly. At her feet, she found a small package of food pills. She lifted her head to look at her squad member and smiled at her. Yugao sighed deeply and smiled back at her in return.

'Eat it. I know just how much chakra you spent back there to sense our surroundings. Thank you for your hard work.' Miyeko opened the small food package and ate the red food pill it contained. The sweetness of it made her smile. 'It's cherry-flavored, they're my favorite. Mind telling us who you are now?' asked Yugao as she gestured to Yoji and Tenzo to hush. Miyeko glanced at the Aburame clansman and the Wood release user and smiled.

'My name is Miyeko. I just- I- It's nice to meet you.' she managed to say. Tenzo looked at Miyeko as he sat down to warm himself up. He smirked, his teeth showing.

'Well, now that you are officially acquainted with Team Ro, I guess it would be fairly normal to tell us just how you managed to sneak past us to hide in Tenzo's shadow.' continued Yugao as she drank a cup of sake that she shared with Tenzo and Yoji. Miyeko put her book down and crossed her arms.

'I used the Shadow Immersion Jutsu. It's an ancestral technique passed down in my family.' she simply replied. Yoji raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

'That was the Shadow Dweller's technique. I never thought that someone else would be able to execute it as well as she did back then…' replied Yoji with a warm smile on his face. Miyeko's expression turned to a sad frown. She closed her eyes to prevent the flow of images of Kuri's bloody body from coming back to her. Yugao caught on to Miyeko's uneasiness and she quickly changed the subject.

'Well, we want to congratulate you on becoming Jonin. You apparently managed to infuriate old Lady Koharu. I always hated that old hag.' said Yugao as he took another sip of sake. Tenzo filled her cup again and smiled.

'You don't like her because she asked you to act like a lady one too many times, Yugao. And she was right, look at you. You're two steps away from sporting a cock.' Yoji said, earning a punch on the head. 'You jerk! Take it back!' she said throwing her sake cup in his direction. Yoji dodged the projectile and Tenzo laughed wholeheartedly.

'That's not what Hayate said to me the other day, Yoji…' he said with a snicker, Yugao's face flushed with several shades of red. Indignation was spread across her face.

'That is none of your business, Tenzo! Don't you dare say one more word!' she exclaimed, earning laughter from her two squad members as the two young men exchanged boastful looks. Miyeko couldn't help but smile at their jests, a small laugh escaping her lips. She appreciated the humour they displayed in their professional relationship and seemed to be friends even outside of their mission setting. She listened to their bickering with a feeling of ease in her heart. Their familiarities had warmed her heart as she soon forgot the uneasiness of her mission. Soon, the fire they had lit became embers as everyone had fallen asleep, leaving Miyeko half asleep against the tree trunk, kunai in hand. She couldn't let herself fall prey to deep sleep. Her sensory skills were still needed, especially in the depth of the darkness of the night. She scanned the area with her chakra every so often, scanning her team's surroundings with her natural energy, making sure that they were always guarded.

And then she felt it. A disturbance. A movement in the night. Footsteps closing in. One person walking closer to her. She steadily gripped the handle of her kunai blade as she readied herself for an attack, her eyes still closed to keep her focus. Alarming the others would only cause unnecessary noise an unwanted agitation that could alert others. The steps were getting closer and closer as someone closed in on her. She quickly opened her eyes and looked in front of her, seeing a distinct shadow in the darkness as it walked towards her. She focused on the steadiness of her breathing, her sharpened kunai ready to pierce her enemy's skin at a moment's notice. And then she saw the clear silhouette of a man crouching in front of her. She dropped her kunai when she saw a pair of red Sharingan eyes staring straight into her soul, Itachi's body slowly crouched in front of her, his energy blending in with the shadows of the dark forest. She lowered her weapon and sighed deeply, the silence around her almost deafening. She couldn't find the words to address him. As he placed himself before her, she could feel the distance that all these years of separation had created between them. It was the feeling of the void she had created. His crimson irises gazed deeply into her green ones. He then spoke to her, his voice low and calm.

'How long are you going to keep ignoring me for?' he asked, very careful of his tone to not wake his other squad members. She tried to back away from him and she pressed her back was firmly against the tree trunk, her silence is the only weapon she could use against him. She turned her gaze away from him but he reached out to her face, pulling her gaze back towards him. She pushed his forearm firmly.

'Don't touch me.' She whispered angrily. Itachi pulled his arm away calmly and sighed.

'Then _talk_ to me.' he replied, his voice assertive and deep, his Sharingan eyes riveted on her.

'_No_.' She replied stubbornly. She inhaled sharply and closed her eyes. Maybe if she didn't look at him, he would leave her alone to live her now very vivid misery. But he only got closer to her, his mouth dangerously close to her ears as he whispered to her, his hair tickling her skin.

'I know you've been back in the village for days now. And yet, nothing from you. You can be cold to me and ignore me all you want. But I'm here and I'm not going away.' he said to her, the depth of his voice sending chills down Miyeko's spine. The memory of their last conversation still haunted her mind, his pained expression as she told him to leave and forget her making her heart tinge with pain. His chest was so close to her now that she could feel the heat radiating from his skin. He was closing in on her, his crouched body leaning over hers as she pressed her back harder against the tree she leaned on, desperately trying to create a safe distance between her heaving chest and his. A panic set in her mind as her voice called out to him, her lower lip trembling.

'What do you want from me?' she asked ever so quietly, kunai in hand.

Itachi frowned deeply as she attempted to raise the knife to him, resisting his invasion of her privacy. Itachi quickly grabbed it out of her hand and threw it in the depth of the lush forest behind them, leaving her exposed and unarmed. His movements were so quick, she thought. And his eyes had never left hers. Miyeko silently gasped as he grabbed her cold hands to place them on his chest, pushing them again against his chest as he steadied his grip on her wrists. She could feel under his shirt the strong muscles of his chest and his heartbeat. His heart was beating so fast, she thought. She could feel his every muscle, his every breath under her touch. This sudden act of intimacy made the tip of her ears heat up. She then looked up to him and directly stared into his crimson irises. She could see the pain and loneliness in his intense gaze. Pain and loneliness that she had caused him. Small tears formed in the corner of her eyes as he let her cold hands warm up to his body heat as he did all those years ago in the Forest of Death.

'I want you to ask me to come back to you.' he said slowly and clearly, his voice caressing her ears. Her heart stopped. _He is still so gentle,_ she thought. He had always been so gentle and kind to her. And she had run away from him. She tried to pull her hands away from him but his grasp on her wrists immobilized her. Panic was starting to set in her mind, her thoughts running wild as her breathing became labored with suppressed sobs. He wiped away the tears that had fallen down on her face as her lower lip trembled.

'I-I can't.' she replied, panicked. 'You know what I am. I'm a monster.' she continued as the wind caressed her face, her white strand of hair caressing the skin of her cheek. He pushed it away slowly as he shook his head silently, in utter disbelief.

'I don't care what they say you are. I don't care what you think you are. You are not _that _to me.' he said as he ran his fingers through her hair. He could feel her tremble under his touch. And then she was reminded of the vision he shared with her when they were children of their two older selves happy together, sitting on the front porch of her house sharing a frozen treat as the sun brightly shined on their delighted faces. The kiss they had shared in that vision of his was engraved in her mind. A silent stream of salty tears rolled down her cheeks and she swallowed a quiet sob. She couldn't let him near her. Not now_. I can't let him in_, she thought. She had to try to convince him to leave her be.

'I killed a dozen men before. Senseless killing. I had their blood on my skin. I enjoyed it. I have no remorse for it.' she said as she tried to disgust him with her vile past doings. But he remained stoic.

'I killed _dozens_ of men before. And yet here I am, in front of you, asking you not to judge me for it. We're the same.' he replied. Her voice now trembled with nervousness and hurt.

'I could hurt you. I could lose control and hurt you. I can't let that happen. I refuse to let that happen.' she blurted out sadly. He then released her wrists to enlace his fingers with hers as he pressed her hands against his warm body again.

'You could never hurt me, Miyeko.' He said with a familiar sadness in his voice. Miyeko recognized that sadness as it was the same she remembered from the last words he had spoken to her before her departure from the village all this time ago. And yet, he had waited for her. He had never abandoned her. Her will was failing her.

'I don't even know who you are anymore.' she said as the last stand against him, knowing very well he was not the same boy she had left behind when she disappeared from his life. He was a man now, his looks and demeanor were different. Then why did he feel ever so familiar to her, like this was so natural to them?

'You do. I'm the same person I've always been. And I'll always be there for you.' he said, his voice soft as silk. He was telling the truth, she thought. He had always been _her_ truth, even when they were thousands of leagues away from one another. Even after all this pain and ache, their hearts were still connected. She let out a silent sob at the sudden realization that _she_ had been the one who abandoned him. She felt her body fall to pieces in the darkness of the night as she pulled her hands back to her face to hide her visible shame. Itachi Uchiha watched miserably as his long-lost friend, the girl he admired for so long crumbled beneath him and finally let go of her cold facade as it got washed away with sincere tears. To his surprise, she then grabbed him by his neck and pulled him closer to her, her face resting against his chest as he tried her hardest to calm her breathing.

_'Itachi.'_ she whispered to him. Itachi's heart skipped a beat at the sound of her voice calling his name. It sent a shiver down his spine and made his legs weak. He had been waiting for so long for her to say his name. How many nights of mental agony had he lived through, waiting for her to call him by his name again as she so often did when they were younger? All these years of silence and lonesome suffering had made Itachi sensitive to her touch. Goosebumps traveled on his skin at the feeling of her fingers brushing against his neck. And in one breath, she let her walls down, a flood of whispers escaping her mouth.

'I'm sorry, Itachi. For everything. I want you back in my life. I missed you so much.' And then he did the one thing he wanted to do ever since she had left. He grabbed her and pulled her tightly against him in a warm, familiar, _needed_ embrace, her chest crashing against his. He let the strands of her long black hair brush his face, her distinct perfume so familiar and pleasant to him. His rough hands caressed her back as she crawled against him even closer and pressed her forehead on his chest as she silently sobbed, warm tears wetting his shirt. She was cold, alone and afraid, he thought. He could feel all these years of hurt inside of her heart. How lonely she must have felt, just like him. They were the same. They had always been the same. Even after years of absence, they could connect ever so deeply to the other's heart. How validated he felt in that instant with her in his arms. Itachi turned his head around to see if they had woken up their teammates. All he could hear was Tenzo's quiet snoring and Yugao's mumbling in her sleep. Yoji had passed out with the bottle of sake in his hand. A sigh of relief escaped his lips as he concluded they had all passed out from the abuse of alcohol. He turned his attention back to Miyeko and let his body lean against hers fully.

'I don't even know why you would want to talk to me again, Itachi…' she started, but he interrupted her.

'I never stopped wanting to.' he said. She sighed, her body finally relaxing against his. His warmth overtook her mind as she let herself melt against his chest.

'I'm not the same as I was, Itachi.' she admitted to him, wiping the tears off her cheeks.

'You must know that. I'm not the little girl that you knew and grew up with. I don't want you to be disappointed in me.' she started but Itachi hushed her up. She could never be a source of displeasure to him. She had grown so much… He had looked at her for the past two days, inspecting her, analyzing every inch of her. The curves of her body, the shine in her hair, the delicate lines of her face… _No_, thought Itachi. She was not the same as she was before. And he was not at all disappointed. His past dreams suddenly started to haunt him as he struggled to push them away from his mind. He had to fight the urge to inhale her scent, to run his fingers on the skin of her neck, to pull her closer to him so he could feel her every curve. He couldn't – _wouldn't_ \- let himself be swayed by his volatile hormones. They had been talking so quietly that even the gentle sounds of the nearby river could be heard through the thick bushes of the forest. The rustling of the leaves witnessed their long-awaited reunion. He had let her talk in whispers to him in the night and listened to her as she calmed down, her head resting on his shoulder and they watched the embers die. How he had missed her voice. How he has longed for her presence.

'And I can't even remember where we left off.' she said with shame. 'It's been so long… My memories of that day are so clouded...' she continued as he sat next to her, leaning against the tree that was her bed for the night. He deactivated his Sharingan and looked at her deeply. He pulled his cloak off his back and placed it on her shivering shoulders. He took another glance at his friend as she pulled herself closer to him for warmth, clutching to his arm like she always did when they were younger. It was as if nothing ever happened. He then smiled to himself. He _very much_ knew where they had left off, but he doubted that they were both ready for that just now. A mysterious smirk appeared on his face, puzzling her. She met his onyx eyes and smiled shyly.

'What is it?' she asked, curious as to why he gave her such an enigmatic glance. He could feel the faded colors in his vision become vivid once again when he saw her smile. As if the blood in his veins ran hot again for the first time in a long time. Like he was breathing air in his lungs after drowning underwater for so long. He shyly shook his head.

'Nothing. Nothing at all. Please don't stop talking to me.' he asked of her. They were both exhausted but neither of them wanted to fall asleep before the other one did. In the depth of the night, the stars as their witness, they rekindled their one of a kind friendship and fell asleep against one another, his hand on top of hers.

**…**

'Wake up, honey. We're moving out soon.' Yugao had gently kicked Miyeko's sandal and the Nagaki youth woke up in a startle. She slowly rose from her slumber and noticed that Itachi had placed his own travel pack under her head so she would not have to sleep on the cold ground and had placed his cloak on her to keep her warm. He had moved back to his sleeping spot at sunrise and when she finally came back to her senses, she saw him walk over to her to offer her water.

'Hurry up. Kakashi will be here any minute.' he said to her in a low voice. She nodded and quickly washed up before packing her things and attached her weapon pouch to her hip. She had neatly folded Itachi's cloak and gave it back to him, their fingers lightly brushing as she handed it to him. As she finished braiding her hair, Kakashi Hatake had appeared before them. He inspected the campsite of his subordinates and sighed in exasperation as he saw the numerous bottles of sake lying on the ground near the fire pit. He rolled his eyes and groaned.

'Tell me you guys didn't share this elixir of life with our delightful underage bundles of joy, have you?' he said, pointing at Miyeko and Itachi. Yoji gasped in mocked indignation. Tenzo shook his head as he looked at a grinning Yugao.

'We would never, captain.' he said with a growing, obvious smile on his face. Tenzo smirked and turned around to wink at Miyeko and Itachi, a devilish grin on his face.

'It's not _alcohol_ these kids need to unwind, captain. I can assure you.' started Tenzo, giving a devilish, boastful look to Yoji, who decided to play along his little masquerade. Miyeko's heart skipped at Tenzo's allusion of her and Itachi being indecent in their presence. Kakashi blinked. Once, twice. _No, I heard right_, he thought. Kakashi was _not_ enjoying this conversation. He repressed a seemingly disgusted grunt as Yoki and Tenzo exploded in laughter, making Itachi visibly uncomfortable. Miyeko tried to conceal her blush as best she could while Itachi cleared his throat only to glare at Tenzo when Kakashi turned around, desperately trying to forget what his immature subordinates had just said. Yoji turned around to give the young Uchiha a thumbs up, making Yugao giggle as she saw Miyeko's face flushed with a thousand layers of red. And here they thought they had been careful, thought Miyeko. Yugao's playful expression made Kakashi Hatake groan in utmost annoyance.

'I don't particularly care to hear about what any of you were up to last night.' he started as he rubbed his temples. 'But do remember who you are serving under and what you are here for.' he said, giving his team a stern look.

'We are soon entering enemy territory. I need all your undivided attention on this mission's objective. The sooner we get rid of the Prajna Group, the sooner we get back home. Trust me, there's nothing I want more than to be sitting at home and not having to hear about the _things_ the teenagers under my command were up to last night. Is that clear?' he asked. Miyeko shyly looked at the ground and nodded. She raised her head and looked at the young Uchiha in front of her and smiled to herself. After all these years, he had kept his hair long, she thought. It truly did suit him well.

'Yes, captain.' Team Ro said in unison.

With the leaves blowing in a fresh morning breeze, Team Ro departed for their last checkpoint.

**...**

It was now past noon when they reached the cave that was their final checkpoint. Kakashi's team had concealed themselves in the thick bushes in the surrounding area, suppressing their chakra to better study the illicit activities that were being operated by the target group of enemies, the Prajna Group of the Land of Woods. Miyeko took a careful look at the entrance of the cave and noticed two masked sentinel warriors with heavy blades on their backs. She had been lying low on the ground and closed her eyes to breathe in deeply. She then let the energy around her slowly enter her own chakra barriers, feeling out her surroundings, absorbing its power.

She could feel so many things around her. The trees, the rocks, to the small insects that Yojo had placed on each squad member to keep track of the team's movements. She focused her attention on the cave and reached out with energy to determine the position of the enemy. Ten men. All masked. Four of them deep in the cave, two at the entrance and four more in the surrounding area. They had sensed something was wrong. They knew Team Ro was here. She tapped a series of thumps on the ground. Morse code. This had been the way she had determined would work best to communicate to Itachi Uchiha, who could see her movements through the thick foliage with his Sharingan so he could communicate the enemy's position to Kakashi. She could feel the young Uchiha's chakra move slowly to the east as he crawled to Kakashi Hatake to deliver the vital piece of intel she had provided for his team. Now that Team Ro knows of the enemy's forces position and their numbers, they had to wait for Kakashi's next move. It was peaceful, Miyeko thought. Too peaceful. The wind has stopped blowing.

And then she felt it. Three individuals running towards Yugao's position. _An ambush!_ She quickly ran from her hiding place and swiftly moved towards her squad member's position, her shadow dancing on the ground as her legs pushed her forward at the speed of sound. She flew through the woods like a black arrow, kunai in hand. She had to be quick. They were moving fast. Being the most experienced sensory type of her team, it was her responsibility to prevent the enemy ambush from being successful. At this rate, she was going to run straight into them. She had to stay silent so as not to alarm the other Prajna warriors in their nearby hideout. She would be a shadow in broad daylight, her blade sharp and ready to slice her enemies apart. And then she felt them. Meters away from her. She was charging right for them. As she saw Yugao's crouched body on the corner of her eye, Miyeko felt the wind of a blow over her head as she swiftly ducked to dodge it. She let her instincts take over and plunged her kunai into the first masked man's throat, slashing it apart as his blood fell on the ground, thick and crimson in color.

The second Prajna shinobi had been more prudent and had taken out his katana sword, swinging it at her neck. Miyeko saw her own reflection in the sharp reflective blade and jumped in the air and dodged his vertical strike, landing on her feet as she blocked another blow from the katana user with her kunai. The sound of weapons clashing gave her an adrenaline rush. She quickly stepped towards him and plunged her kunai in the tender part of his hand, the man screaming as he dropped his sword to the ground, clutching to his now unusable sword hand. She quickly stepped towards him and plunged her bloody kunai in his eye socket, silencing the bandit forever. One more left, Miyeko thought. She closed her eyes to sense her third enemy. He was gone! She then quickly reopened her eyes and looked around. She couldn't feel his energy anymore. She turned around to face Yugao, whose silly grin caught Miyeko's attention. Miyeko then smirked at the sight of Yugao's bloody prize in her right hand. She held the severed head of the third Prajna warrior by his hair. Miyeko crouched again and nodded approvingly at Yugao. It was true. Yugao truly was fast with a blade, Miyeko thought as she saw the bloody katana in Yugao's left hand, dripping with blood. Miyeko reached outside of herself again with her energy and exhaled in relief to sense no more enemies nearby. They had silently taken care of the ambush and had remained undetected. But to Miyeko, something was wrong still.

As Miyeko turned around to walk over to Yugao, a sharp stabbing pain exploded in her arm as he fell to her knees, screaming. Blood gushed down her arm as she applied pressure to her fresh katana wound. 'Miyeko, duck!' she heard Yugao scream. Miyeko did exactly as she was told, unable to think properly for herself because of the pain. She quickly lowered her head as another katana blade cut the air over her head. Yugao lunged towards the young Nagaki shinobi and dodged the enemy blade with her own, the steel of their blades signing in her ears. She could feel the powerful stream of blood cascading down her arm. The bastard had cut deeper than she hoped he would have. She heard Yugao dropped her blade as she was also cut deep on her sword hand, falling to the ground.

'It's over for you, Konoha **scum**!' screamed the Prajna warrior, his sword ready to fall on Yugao's chest. No, thought Miyeko. She raised her hand to reach at Yugao, but the blade came so fast… No!

And then she saw it again. That strange dark chakra that appeared to be bubbling on top of her skin. Miyeko pushed her energy forward and the black energy that became an extension of her arm and hand flew straight to the Prajna warrior's throat, strangling him. Miyeko was surprised at the sudden apparition of this strange chakra of hers. The phantom energy that had taken over her arm has now lifted the bandit in the air by his throat, his face turning blue behind his white demon mask. The last time she saw that strange shadowy chakra, she had lost complete control over it. But it felt different this time. Like the energy listened to her commands, to her thoughts. It didn't feel as foreign as it once did… Had she mastered what she had trained herself to do for so long? She couldn't be sure and it didn't matter to her in that instant. Miyeko managed to get up and walked towards her prey as she bent over to pick up his left with her other hand. She had forgotten the pain in her upper arm as he could taste his fear as she raised the katana towards him.

_'Please! Don't kill me!'_ the man screamed as Miyeko's dark chakra body extension wrapped tighter around his throat. The dark hand created by her energy was crushing his throat before her very eyes and she could feel the breath escaping his lungs. Yugao could only watch in horror as she saw the young Nagaki girl smile to her enemy as she readied herself to kill him with his own katana, her devilish grin staining her mind with red. Was… Was this what Kakashi had spoken to her about? Was this Konoha's Shinigami? She could sense the fear behind the man's white demon mask. He knew he was about to die a very painful death. 'Please, I'll do anything! _But don't kill me!_' he pleaded with difficulty, his breath ragged and labored as the dark chakra cloaked hand around his throat squeezed the light out of me.

'You should have thought of that before raising your sword to kill my comrade. Now… **die**.'

With one powerful swing, Miyeko pierced the Prajna warrior's armor and aimed the blade straight at his heart. He died on the spot, his lifeless body falling next to Miyeko. Yugao was in shock. The young Nagaki girl… had done this to protect her? But… why? She was just as expendable as she was…

The loud thump Miyeko's body made as she collapsed to the ground, her gaping wound bleeding profusely interrupted Yugao's thoughts. Yugao crawled next to the Shinigami as she looked horrified and in awe at Miyeko's wound. Having been trained in the arts of the samurai, Yugao knew that a katana's blade was deadly sharp and that it could cut through the thickest of armor. Yugao helped Miyeko apply to her injured arm a makeshift tourniquet and applied pressure as she saw the bleeding slowly calm itself down. Another scream erupted from Miyeko's mouth as she reached for her first aid kit, drawing a needle and surgical thread and beginning to sow her own skin.

'Yugao… please, in my pouch… plasma pills.' Miyeko said, her teeth clenched as she suppressed a painful whimper. The purple-haired kunoichi quickly rummaged through Miyeko's supplies and pushed a packet of dark brown pills down Miyeko's throat. It would certainly help the sudden loss of blood, thought Miyeko as she rested her head on Yugao's shoulder while she recovered. 'Let's find the others. We need to get back to the village and get your arm fixed.' she said, helping Miyeko stand.

'I can… heal my own injuries. I just need to wait for my head to clear up. Can't concentrate... the pain is too much...' she said, her green eyes meeting Yugao's. Yugao frowned. This fifteen-year-old girl was amazing, she thought. She moved faster than the speed of sound, could sense any life form and its energy for miles and could even use medical ninjutsu on herself. And that dark chakra of her, what was it? Yugao placed Miyeko on her back and ran back to the initial checkpoint, moving quietly and steadily to the rest of their squad. When the two kunoichis reached the cave where Kakashi, Itachi and Yoji had waited for them, she noticed that Kakashi and Itachi had already taken care of the rest of the Prajna warriors, their lifeless bodies decorating the ground at the entrance of their lair.

'Kakashi, help me… she's injured!' Miyeko heard Yugao scream at Kakashi. The grey-haired captain ran to the two kunoichis and Yugao carefully sat Miyeko on the ground. 'What happened?' he demanded, slightly taken aback by the large gash in Miyeko's arm.

'Ambush. Four warriors. All dead. She- I- I- wouldn't be here… if it wasn't for her. She saved my life, captain.' she said, panting. Kakashi's worried frown had turned into an expression of surprise. Yugao was amongst Konoha's elite shinobis. And yet she… had been saved by this young girl? His thoughts were interrupted by Miyeko's scream as he wound reopened, blood flowing down her arm again. Itachi and Yoji ran to the rest of their squad, the Uchiha youth pushing Tenzo out of the way to see the bloody sight of Miyeko's arm slashed open. He froze. His heart skipped a beat. What happened to her?

Team Ro assembled around Miyeko as she raised her bloodied hand to her wound, a soft light emanating from her palm. Kakashi Hatake could only watch the bloody spectacle as he saw the Nagaki youth perform standard medical ninjutsu to her own injury, small groans of pain on her lips as her wound very slowly closed under her medical ministration. Yugao had reached in the Nagaki youth's pouch again and fed her plasma pills once again. Soon, Miyeko's wound was closed and with the help of plasma pills and a couple of food pills, the color came back to her cheeks. Yugao let out a sigh of relief when she saw the closed wound on Miyeko's arm. Kakashi helped her up and scoffed.

'So, I suppose you got him good for that injury he gave you?' he asked slyly. Miyeko slowly nodded.

'Yeah. I forgot to bring you back his severed head, though. It would've looked nice on your fireplace mantle, captain.' she said, a grin on her face. Kakashi chuckled. Even in such a state, the young Nagaki still had energy left to joke around.

'I wouldn't worry about that. You'll have plenty more occasions to bring me personalized house decorations, Miyeko. For now, you must rest.' he said as she let go of her captain's shoulder, finally finding the strength to stand up on her own. Kakashi turned to Yugao and sighed.

'Yugao, seal their bodies into scrolls so we can have our Interrogation Force examine them. Yoji and Tenzo, come with me. We'll search their hideout. Itachi, please take care of Miyeko until we're done.' Kakashi and Yoji disappeared into the cave and Yugao executed herself, performing complex Fuinjutsu to dispose of the bodies.

Miyeko was bandaging her arm when Itachi walked up to her, looking at her with worried eyes.

'Are you alright?' he asked, his voice calm and soothing to Miyeko. But she knew he was worried. The frown on his face was betraying him. She looked at him and smiled. She had only then noticed just how tall Itachi had become as he looked down on her, his onyx orbs bearing a soft expression. She nodded silently but gasped as he pulled her against his chest, his arms wrapped around her.

'You still have a knack for getting in trouble.' he stated.

She scoffed at him. 'I guess some things don't change, do they?' she said as she pulled away from him smiling in relief that her first mission as Jonin was over. Itachi studied her warm smile with utmost care. In the afternoon light, he found her intriguing, like he always did. Despite the purple hue to her upper arm her hands soiled with blood, in that moment, he found Miyeko Nagaki beautiful.

'Yes. Some things just don't seem to change.' he replied to her, his heart light as a feather.


	13. Burning Embers

> No single thing is perfect by itself. That's why we're born to attract other things to make up for what we lack.

Kakashi awoke with the sun beaming in his face and he winced from the sudden light exposure. He slowly opened his grey eyes and yawned lazily, stretching his arms and legs as he listened to the calming sounds of the lush forest of the Lands of Wood, his grey mane brushed by the warm morning breeze. He had fallen asleep on a tree branch, away from his team. The road back to Konoha had been long but pleasant as they traveled from checkpoint to checkpoint in luxurious forests and fertile plains, alongside cold but calm rivers, their calves tickled by lush and thick greenery and colorful flowers. The warm sun of the Land of Woods was often piercing through the thick forests tree line, giving his surroundings an ethereal look and feel to it. Kakashi lowered his mask and drank deeply from his water pouch, quenching his thirst. He then jumped down his branch and packed his bag, readying himself to join Team Ro once again, as he made sure to never sleep, eat or interact with his squad members unless he deemed it absolutely necessary. As he walked back to camp, he took a breath and closed his eyes, appreciating the sweet sounds of the birds chirping and the leaves blowing in the wind. It had been quite some time since he appreciated taking his time to return to the village after a grueling mission. Knowing perfectly well that one of his squad members had been injured on duty, he had to make sure that Miyeko Nagaki wasn't further strained by excessive movements from fast traveling.

Her wound was healing properly, he had examined it himself and made sure the infection hadn't set in. That young woman had sure been a complete surprise to him. Never had he misjudged someone's abilities so utterly. Kakashi had only been curious about her, nothing more. He had not expected Miyeko Nagaki to be able to sense a devastating ambush, to pinpoint the exact location of the enemies, to stop their assault and save Yugao Uzuki, Konoha's best swordswoman from an unbecoming death. Kakashi was very hard to impress, he had always been. But this… this was something he was not used to. Her skills in combat, raw intellect and calm demeanor in dire situations made Kakashi doubt his ever-questioning and distrustful attitude. As he looked at the sight of his three older teammates sleeping around an extinguished fire, he couldn't help but look for his two younger subordinates, who weren't around the fire pit like the rest of them. Instead, Kakashi saw further in the distance the two teens awoke and well, sipping on warm tea, talking to one another in low voices as they sat side by side, their shoulders slightly touching.

Kakashi Hatake frowned curiously. He inspected the scene a little closer, intrigued by his subordinates' behavior. She was the one who mostly talked, the young Uchiha man listening to her with utmost attention, his gaze transfixed on her with a soft expression in his eyes. Kakashi Hatake was at a loss for words. Itachi was so mysterious and secretive, rarely spoke out of term, was very quiet and socially maladapted. He was shy and introverted and could hide his general social discomfort so well he fooled most of his inner circle, family and even his teammates. But to someone like Kakashi Hatake, who couldn't be fooled by anyone or anything, Itachi was an unhappy, exhausted and anxiety stricken young man. He seemed to have been ever since Kakashi had met him two years ago. And yet, the same Itachi Uchiha he was seeing with his own eyes on that warm spring morning, the prodigal son of Fugaku Uchiha and heir to the chieftain of the Uchiha clan, the youngest elite shinobi to ever join ANBU and master of the Sharingan eye was _smiling_ at her.

This dark-haired, green-eyed stranger that Kakashi barely knew anything about made Itachi Uchiha smile the warmest of smiles of all as he listened to the sound of her voice when she spoke sweet nothings in his ears, her body leaning on his. Kakashi Hatake had to blink harder than usual to try to dispel what he thought was dancing illusions happening before his eyes. He chuckled quietly in disbelief as he noticed to the subtlety of the younger Uchiha's reaction to her body closing in on his. Itachi Uchiha, silent and reserved, welcomed her in as if their bodies ever so slightly touching was the most natural thing in the world to them. The intimacy of this act made Kakashi feel like both of them were alone in their own little world, unaware of any outside stimuli, only fueled by the desire to be in each other's presence. But this moment of intimacy wasn't the only anomaly that Kakashi was a witness to. It seemed like her presence had lifted the weight on Itachi Uchiha's shoulders and had made his dark under eyes circles disappear with the sound of her quiet laughter as she recounted stories that Kakashi couldn't hear from where he stood. But he could feel the warmth of their connection as the sun's rays fell upon their faces through the thick foliage of branches above them.

A small tinge of happiness poked at Kakashi's heart, a feeling he now rarely felt in his everyday life. In that specific moment, as he looked at the two of them interacting with such ease and harmony, he now understood why the Third Hokage entrusted her to him and his team for it seemed only she could break through Itachi Uchiha's cold facade and breathe life into him. He blinked as he noticed just how his body shifted towards her, his eyes half-closed as he looked at her, listening to her slow and steady breathing, his hand gently resting next to his thigh, brushing hers. A small smirk appeared on the masked man's face as he slowly and quietly backed away from the scene. He knew the look in the young Uchiha's eyes all too well for he had seen it so many times over the years. It was the look that men had when they found a reason to live again, to hope again. As much as an authoritarian leader he thought he was, Kakashi Hatake knew that breaking that moment of morning bliss between the both of them would be a shame. He silently shrugged and walked away as he decided to go hunt for his breakfast.

**...**

When Miyeko had woken up on this warm spring morning, Itachi was already up and was making tea. She rose and walked up to him, the sight of her messy long hair making the younger Uchiha smirk at the sight of her dissolved appearance, just like she used to look like when they were kids. 'Good morning.' she had said to him, rubbing her eyes groggily. Itachi looked up again from his crouched position and noticed the rebellious snowy white strand of hair that always seemed to make Miyeko's green eyes stand out.

'Hn.' He replied as he looked away, afraid that she would notice his staring. She crouched next to him to observe the boiling water in the kettle and frowned as she saw the prepackaged herbal tea that Itachi had brought with him. 'Don't tell me you're going to drink _that_?' she asked, pointing at the atrocity that was the tea ANBU shinobis were provided with for their travels. Itachi shrugged. 'Seems like it.' He replied as he grabbed the packaged herbs in his hands. She quickly grabbed it and shook her head.

'I don't think so. If we're going to drink tea, let's at the very least drink something that doesn't taste like stale dirt.' she said as she reached to her bag, grabbed a small pouch of herbs and tossed the specialty tea bag towards Itachi, who swiftly caught it. '_That_ is what tea is supposed to be.' She said as she earned a confused look from Itachi. 'Or look like, in any case.' Itachi shyly smiled and prepared them a warm cup of ginseng tea. The aroma was soothing. He soon offered her a cup and she thanked him, returning to her sleeping bag, leaned against the tree trunk she slept next to and grabbed her book out of her travel pack and started reading. She soon felt a presence walking towards her as Itachi sat next to her. A small smile appeared on the corner of her mouth as she noticed Itachi quietly eyeing at her book as she sipped on his warm tea.

'Anything I can help you with today, Itachi?' she asked as she sighed, turning the page, continue her reading. She snickered as he turned the page backward to the previous page she had just finished reading. 'I wasn't finished reading that paragraph.' He stated, looking at her from the corner of his eye with the smallest hint of a curve in on his lips. She chuckled quietly.

'Well, read faster. I want to know what happens next.' she said to him. A few moments later, he turned the page. She frowned as she focused her glance on him, her fingers brushing the lining of her book. 'I see what you're doing, Itachi Uchiha.' she said to him. He ignored the interrogative tone in her voice.

'I have no clue what you're referring to.' He replied innocently as he kept on reading the book she had laid on her thighs. She raised an eyebrow and looked at him.

'You did the same thing years ago when you finally decided that you wanted to talk to me, back at the Academy. Don't you remember?' she said, her voice quiet like the morning wind. And then she saw a small grin that had momentarily appeared on his face as he pushed his long black locks away from his face.

'As a matter of fact, I do remember. And I'm glad to see that my tactic is working still.' he said, his grin growing wider on his face as she nudged his arm and frowned. 'You're incorrigible, Itachi. If you want to talk to me, just do it. Don't hide behind '_tactics_' to mask the fact that you want to engage in a conversation with me.' she said, shaking her head, her voice echoing a groan. He sighed.

'It's a relief to hear you say that. That book really is a bore anyway.' he said, earning himself another nudge on the shoulder as Miyeko as she threw the book in her bag. She then turned her chest towards him and gave him and interrogating look.

'So, what is it that you want to talk about, Itachi? You better come up with something good for having interrupted my very interesting - _excuse you_ \- reading session.' she said, clearing her throat and rolling her eyes. Itachi sighed and shrugged.

'Actually, I didn't really have any subjects of conversation picked in advance. I thought you could just tell me about the other book in your bag, the one with the orange cover. What's it about? Maybe we could read that one instead.' he said, genuinely interested in the small book that Miyeko had tossed deliberately at the bottom of her bag before leaving her apartment in Konoha to leave on their mission. After all, Itachi had always been a very well-read individual and books always piqued his interest. Her eyes suddenly became wide with embarrassment as she turned away from him, blushing furiously at Itachi's proposal. She promptly pushed her bag away from them, trying to put as much distance between the revolting book her sensei wrote and Itachi's prying mind.

'_No!'_ she suddenly exclaimed, shaking her head furiously. 'Not a good idea.' she stated, desperately trying to hide her flushed face behind her messy hair. Itachi frowned as he noticed the heat rising to her cheeks. He raised an eyebrow inquisitively. 'Is everything alright? Your cheeks are red.' he stated, raising a hand to test her temperature.

'Just leave it, ok?' she said in a pout as his hand reached for her forehead, his fingers brushing her skin. 'That book is uninteresting and poorly written.' She continued while pushing away his hand. 'I doubt you'd find any interest in this sort of story.' she said, hoping Itachi wouldn't ask any other questions about the damn orange bound book. But he seemed to be enjoying the look of utter embarrassment on her face and pried further.

'How can I be the judge of that when you won't tell me what it is about?' he asked. Miyeko's mind was now rowing in very stormy waters, her body showing visible signs of nervosity as she mumbled her way through a very vague way of describing the story of the adult-rated book that rested at the bottom of her bag to a curious Itachi Uchiha, who was all ears as he looked in her eyes, awaiting her answer.

'You see, the story of this book is, um - it's not very intricate, believe me - it's the story of two people finding a common interest in, um, a-a _shared activity_ that they both enjoy doing together at various occasions in various settings.' She managed to say, stuttering. 'Really, if you thought the other book was a bore, you'd be amazed at how dull the story of this one is. I've never read such ordinary, mundane content. A complete waste of time.' she said, her cheeks growing redder and hot. Itachi frowned and placed his palm on her forehead again.

'You're definitely showing signs of fever, Miyeko. I'll have a look at your wound. We have to make sure the infection has not set in.' he said, gently moving his hand from the skin of her face to the skin of her upper arm as he managed undone her bandage. Miyeko could hear the thumping of her heart against her ribcage, her skin prickling at his touch. She examined his face closer, his dark eyes looking at the purple tint of her skin, his soft locks of hair tickling her skin. Miyeko blushed from the feeling of his touch, a touch that sent pleasant shivers down her spine. Her breathing was getting labored as Itachi's fingers brushed her sore skin, examining the healing bruise made by the assassin's blade that had cut her. She tried to quiet her racing thoughts as a feeling of warmth and anticipation had taken over her lower half, making her suddenly much more sensitive to his touch. The wound was still swollen and the mix of pain and sudden pleasure she felt from his touch made her wince. His fingers brushed down the length of her arm, inspecting the entire area. Waves of electric currents ran under her skin as she felt his light, fluttery touches. Her lips slowly parted as she swallowed the moan that almost escaped her lips. Her disturbed internal discourse was short-circuited by the rush of emotions her hormones pushed into her veins as Itachi continued his ministrations, seemingly unaware of the effect the slightest touch of his fingers created inside of her as he ran the tips of his digits across her skin.

Miyeko was so taken aback that such an ordinary act as someone changing her bandage could raise such a reaction from her body that she let out a small whimper as she exhaled sharply. She was lying to herself, she thought. It wasn't the act itself that seemed to have suddenly aroused her. It was _his_ touch. It was _him_ that caused such an uproar inside of her. She could feel the warmth ticklish sensation the brushing of his fingers had caused down her lower half. She couldn't ignore the feeling of sudden yearning for more of him, the need for his proximity to her body. It was the first time in her life that Miyeko felt she wasn't in complete control of her body and her thoughts and that she could connect the warmth she was experiencing in her body to someone very specific. It was frightening, she thought… But so _exhilarating_. Like a rush of ice-cold water running down on her hot skin, soothing the burn.

And then she felt it. She had felt this sensation of rising heat of arousal in her body for quite some time. She had learned about how to relieve herself of these intrusive and overpowering tingles on her own a while back now but discovered that they never went away. It could only calm down when she reached down her garments to find and appease the source of this burning heat herself. At that time, she didn't know what fantasizing was about and until this very moment, the person living in her arousal dreams didn't have a face to him. There was only a need for pleasure. But this time, it was even more poignant and relentless as the only thing she could associate this feeling of pleasure with was with Itachi's Uchiha's face, with his hands, with his scent, with all of him. This is what her mind, her body, her spirit had longed for all along._ Him_. Itachi had always been a soothing presence to her as a child, her best friend… Now that she was a young woman, the image of Itachi Uchiha became a source of arousal for her. As much as Miyeko liked to think she could resist the idea of him being her source of imagery for her sexual fantasies, she would eventually succumb to this idea and never be able to look at him again without feeling ashamed. As he bandaged her wound again with a fresh cloth, Miyeko was melting under his simple touches. She was embarrassed at her body's reaction and at the fact that she wasn't strong enough to control herself. He then removed his hands from her arm and smiled warmly to her, trying to find her evasive gaze.

'No sign of infection.' he concluded as he looked at Miyeko's face. Her eyes met his and he saw something he had never seen before in her emerald green irises. He swallowed hard and blinked, thinking he had imagined the tortured look on Miyeko's face. No, he thought to himself, he wasn't imagining any of this. This look of hers still inhabited her eyes. He realized at that moment that this was the look of her _wanting _something more from him, craving for _something_... He had seen this look once or twice before with people around him, but it never was directed at him. Itachi froze for a mere second, understanding the depth of the moment that was happening between the two of them as it occurred to him that Miyeko Nagaki was waiting for him to bridge the gap between them.

He then felt the warmth emanating from her body and his own responded in him moving in closer to her. The red tint on her cheeks suddenly brought him back to the unrelenting dreams he was having about her ever since he had heard of her return to the village. His own breathing became labored as he felt her leg touch his, the skin of her arm brushing his. She was so close now he could smell the delicate scent of the soap she used the night prior to wash herself with. His mind was confused as to why she suddenly looked at him that way with that strange light in her eyes. But as people always said, Itachi Uchiha was a curious child and the sweetness of honey in her eyes as she devoured him with her emerald irises _certainly_ piqued his curiosity.

He was being drawn in, his chest now pressing against her collarbone as he leaned in closer to her, never breaking eye contact with her. He could see a fire burning in her eyes, an all-consuming fire that made his heart beat faster as his gaze slowly shifted down to her plump pink lips. Her scent, her parted lips, her long hair brushing his arm skin ensnared his senses to the point where the only thing Itachi Uchiha could hear or feel was the sound of his own heartbeat through his chest… and hers. His mouth was so close to hers now he could feel her warm breath on his cheeks. With eyes half-closed, she pressed her leg closer against him, needing his warmth.

'Itachi, what are we-' she started to say in a whisper, but she couldn't finish her sentence.

'I don't know...' he replied as the tip of his upper lip ever slightly brushed against her lower lip, barely making contact. She could almost taste it. She could almost taste his kiss, his lips. The anticipation of his lips on hers made her squirm against him. As she was about to push her lips onto his, a jolt of anxiety ran through her, a weight falling deep into her stomach. Her body froze for a split second as she opened her eyes, realizing that her sensory abilities had been triggered. She felt footsteps coming towards their location. She recognized the energy signature of Kakashi Hatake as he was mere yards away from them and she gasped, pushing Itachi away with both hands, away from her. He silently gasped as his back hit the ground, giving Miyeko a confused look. But her reaction was soon understood by Itachi as he saw the silver-haired squad captain come out of the woods with a net full of freshly caught fish hanging from his shoulder. He threw the net onto Tenzo's face, the slapping of the fishtails on his face waking him from his deep slumber. When he realized what the source of the sudden sliminess was that sat on his face, Tenzo screamed, alerting Yugao and Yoji, rising them from their slumber.

'Good morning, you lot.' said the squad captain, visibly enjoying the surprise on the faces of his subordinates, particularly savoring the disgust on Tenzo's face as he threw the fishnet away from him, glaring at his superior. 'What the hell was that for?' he exclaimed. Kakashi chuckled under his mask.

'I brought you breakfast. You ought to show a little more appreciation to your squad captain who is so diligently taking care of your basic needs, Tenzo.' he said, a clear smirk being drawn behind his face mask. Yoji chuckled.

'All I can say is that the fish looks fresher than your face this morning, old friend.' he said to Tenzo, who was now boiling inside, wearing a distinct exasperated frown on his face. Yugao groaned and hid under her sleeping bag, trying to get a couple more minutes of sleep before Kakashi would reprimand her. Kakashi rekindled the campfire and looked to his left to find Miyeko Nagaki and Itachi Uchiha packing their things in silence.

The heavy silence, the slight traces of blush on Miyeko's face and the seemingly disappointed expression on his younger Uchiha subordinate's face only confirmed Kakashi's initial gut feeling about the connection between the two teens he had witnessed earlier this morning. He frowned and sighed. Kakashi Hatake had been squad captain for several years now and was used to close camaraderie from his subordinates, he never opposed personal friendships between his teammates serving under him as long as it happened _outside_ of their mission's context. But seeing the look in Itachi's eye as he looked at her fold her sleeping bag, a look of yearning for her to look back to him, to share his gaze as if that was the only thing in the world he'd ever wanted, Kakashi Hatake had to do something about it. Even apart, it seemed their bodies were connected, attracted to one another. It was something that made Kakashi feel very uncomfortable as if he was being a witness to their need for each other's unrelenting presence. A shinobi's emotions should be suppressed, thought Kakashi. During missions, a shinobi's heart must be closed to perform the task at hand and exercise duty.

This non-verbal volatile exchange of emotional flutter was what Kakashi had feared would happen from the morning he was made aware of their connection, the day of their attack on the Prajna Group. They were exceptional shinobis, but whatever it was that they shared was dangerous. For the safety of his team, for the success of his future missions and for Itachi Uchiha's own sake in this cruel ninja world, Kakashi would have to meddle in affairs he usually preferred to steer clear of. Before they knew, Team Ro finished packing and Kakashi extinguished the fire that kept them warm, assembled his team for the last leg of the trip home and moved to their last checkpoint, the Village Hidden in the Leaf.

**...**

Team Ro crossed the village's gates around midday and Kakashi gestured to them had finally stopped walking. Kakashi Hatake turned around to face his exhausted team. He could read the fatigue on most of his colleagues' faces, especially on Miyeko Nagaki, who had successfully completed her first mission in three years. He could see the visible sweat on her brow, the dirt stuck to her porcelain skin and the small undereye bags she sported from the sudden lack of sleep she experienced as part of Kakashi's Team Ro. But as she looked at Kakashi Hatake from the back of the group, Kakashi saw a spark of pride in her eyes, something that made her emerald-colored eyes gleam under the sunlight. Because of her, this mission had been a success. Who knows what could have happened if she hadn't been there in time to stop the Prajna Group's ambush in time, thought Kakashi. And the rest of his team had been so efficient in their respective positions as well. Kakashi took a deep breath and sighed. He felt a sudden rush of generosity overcome his body, something he usually didn't act upon very often but grinned under his mask nonetheless.

'Well, it looks like we've made it back in one piece. More of less.' he said as he looked at Miyeko, who frowned at him annoyingly. 'I don't do this often, but as soon as you have been officially relieved of your duties and equipment for this mission at Headquarters, I will grant the whole team a three-day vacation to thank you for your efforts in successfully completing this mission in record time.' Yugao sighed in relief and squeals of happiness while Yoji chuckled, already planning to drink his fair share during his holidays.

'Take this time off to enjoy the weather, do a little shopping, maybe even go sightseeing or visit Konoha's tourist attractions. But most importantly, **_don't_**_ contact me._' He continued, the monotony in his voice replaced with annoyance. 'I need some time off of you guys as well. That means _no_ lunch dates, _no_ invitation to a drinking contest at a local bar and _especially_ **no** surprise visits at my house to drag me to the red light district for some 'pure unadulterated fun'. Is that clear, _Tenzo_?' asked Kakashi. Tenzo scratched the back of his, nervously laughing.

'It only happened once, captain.' he said with a silly grin on his face. Kakashi sighed, exasperated.

'Yeah, because he beat the living shit out of you for it, Tenzo. If I remember correctly, you had to eat with a straw for an entire week after that um, _unfortunate mistake_ of yours. Too bad your teeth aren't made of wood.' snickered Yoji, earning himself a punch on the shoulder from an embarrassed Tenzo. Yugao sighed.

'I _cannot _wait to** not **be in your presence for three whole days. Seriously, you guys are the reason I have more and more fine lines every time I look at myself in the mirror. How do I even manage to stay beautiful when I'm always surrounded by you idiots?' Yoji shrugged.

'Pff, beautiful… I don't know what you're talking about. As a matter of fact, I'll go ask Hayate. I think he knows more about this matter than we do, don't you think so Tenzo?' he said. Yugao's complexion got redder as she chased after her two snickering acolytes, swinging her sword at them with the palpable intention of killing them. Kakashi sighed as the three of them disappeared into a white cloud of smoke, their laughter and screams echoing in a far distance.

'They'll drive me insane.' muttered Kakashi as he rubbed his temples, totally spent by his last interaction with his squad members. Itachi had stayed silent this whole time, his eyes focused on Miyeko as she kept her glance away from him from not wanting their squad leader to be suspicious of them. Miyeko was about to step away when she turned around and smiled at her squad captain. 'Anything you'd like me to do before I take my leave, captain?' she asked politely. Kakashi sighed again and shook his head.

'Technically, you're not an official member of Team Ro and not ANBU, so I can't ask anything of you. I would still recommend that you visit the hospital to get your wound properly taken care of. Thank you for your service. I guess you were not a total disappointment.' He said to her as she raised an eyebrow at him while she crossed her arms, a smirk drawn on her face.

'That's nice of you to say, captain. I'll try to not disappoint you more often in the future. Until next time, Kakashi.' she said. Her gaze then fell on Itachi Uchiha, who had remained calm and quiet by her side. She slowly put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a warm smile, her soft black hair flowing in the wind. To Itachi, it wasn't the sun that warmed the ground and the skies, that gave life to everything that surrounded him. It was her smile. And her touch. A flutter of butterflies danced in his stomach as she removed her hand from his shoulder, walking away from the two young clansmen. Itachi looked at her unblinkingly as she walked away, her long legs giving her strong body motion and her long braided hair brushing the dirty clothing on her back. She turned around opened her mouth to speak to him but he was too engulfed in the image of her porcelain skin bathing in the sunlight to even find a natural timing to reply to her.

'See you later, Itachi.' she sweetly said as she disappeared into the village, out of sight. Itachi's heartbeat returned to normal as he exhaled deeply, his long black bangs brushing his skin with the midday wind. He politely nodded to his squad captain and was about to take a step in the direction of Headquarters when a strong hand gripped his arm and stopped him in his tracks. He turned around to face Kakashi Hatake again but this time, the look in the older Jonin's eyes was vastly more serious, heavy with what Itachi felt like was a reproach.

'We need to talk, Itachi.' was all Kakashi Hatake said before Itachi pulled his arm away from the older shinobi's grip with a grunt.

'I feel like whenever we have a chance to talk it's always because I have to lecture you. I'm sorry if it doesn't seem fair, Itachi. Really, I wish it wasn't like this.' Kakashi said as Itachi stayed silent.

'What is it that you want to lecture me about, captain? I'm sure you noticed that I ate and slept during the mission this time around. What could be wrong now?' he asked, visibly irritated with his squad leader preventing him to benefit from his release. Kakashi sighed, not really knowing where to start. He was as uncomfortable in this situation as the young Uchiha man standing before him.

'Look, kid. I never thought I would be lecturing _you_ of all people on how to conduct yourself in a professional setting. I'm not going to dance around the issue. Your relationship with this girl… what's going on between you and her? What is she to you?' he asked, his voice low and serious. Kakashi had expected Itachi Uchiha's response to be cold and blunt like he usually responded to all his questions. But the young Uchiha man had remained calm, his voice neutral and serene. Kakashi could discern the faint light of happiness in his dark irises but Itachi regained his cold exterior and looked into his fellow comrade's grey eyes with such intensity that it made Kakashi swallow with unease.

'She's a friend. An honorary member of my clan. She's my-'

'She's a distraction. She will only cause you trouble and grief. She's not what you need right now.' Kakashi replied calmly, placing a strong hand on Itachi's shoulder. Kakashi was about to remove his hand from the young man's shoulder, but Itachi gripped Kakashi's arm, roughly tightening his grip on it, his fingernails slowly digging into Kakashi's flesh.

Kakashi inhaled sharply at the pain caused by his dominant hand slowly being crushed under the pressure created by the violence in Itachi's grip as his grey eye met with a pair of hostile looking crimson eyes. Kakashi Hatake wasn't afraid of a lot of things in life. He had been trained for years on controlling his emotions in face of his deepest fears. And yet the deadly look into Itachi Uchiha's eyes as he displayed his three tomoe Sharingan made him shiver. Itachi Uchiha of the Hidden Leaf Village was still young, but it was a known fact that his enemies rarely survived. Kakashi Hatake was the best person to know just how lethal Itachi Uchiha was. He had seen him kill feudal lords, assassins, terrorists with his bare hands and wits. He rarely demonstrated any emotion while doing so. He was the perfect weapon, the perfect obedient killing machine. But this time… _This time_was different. There was no neutrality, no calmness, no composure found in the Uchiha's crimson irises. Only anger. The resentful scowl on the young Uchiha's face sharply awoke Kakashi's survival senses as he raised his left hand to push back the forehead protector that covered his face's left side to reveal the same colored eye as Itachi. Sharingan met Sharingan. Kakashi knew that without his trump card, his sole Sharingan eye, he would not stand a chance against the young Uchiha prodigy. As he readied himself for an impending strike from the young man before him, Kakashi felt Itachi's energy flare down as the adolescent released his grip from his now swollen hand, releasing the older shinobi from his deadly grip. Kakashi exhaled sharply and painfully, not losing focus on the silhouette of Itachi facing him, his Sharingan looking straight into his, showing Kakashi Hatake exactly how inferior his own Sharingan was to his. And Kakashi shuddered at his next words.

'She is **exactly** what I need right now. You would do well to remember it, captain.' he said with venom in his voice as he slowly walked away from his squad captain. Kakashi quickly regained his wits, his mind clearing. His heart was pounding in his chest. His hands were sweaty. For the first time in years, Kakashi Hatake of the Sharingan, the Copycat Ninja, Hero of the Third Ninja War, had been _frightened_. Frightened by the power of a rightful heir to the Sharingan. Frightened by his sudden display of a violent intent but more importantly, frightened of this young man's pure rage as he saw through Itachi's eyes the pain caused by the thought of him losing his newfound hope, his light, his only solace in this ugly world. Kakashi Hatake felt wretched, cursed for even trying to dissuade his young subordinate to end his friendship with the Nagaki clan survivor, but he was responsible for more lives than his own now. As a leader, he had to make a choice. And so he did.

'She can't be with us on ANBU missions anymore, Itachi. I can't take the risk of you losing focus on your objectives. Your mind is elsewhere when you're with her. And it is even when you're not with her. You'll be the death of your teammates if this goes on. Duty must come first Itachi, you told me so yourself. The life of shinobi is not for everyone. It is hard to push away the things we love the most. It is hard to make our minds think that this is the right choice we're making for ourselves. You'll lead your own squad soon. And hopefully, you'll make the right decision and end this before someone under your leadership gets killed because of your actions.' he said as he saw the Uchiha youth walking away in the direction of Headquarters. And then, to Kakashi's surprise, Itachi turned around and chuckled arrogantly.

'Not everyone kills their comrades or lets them die because of their pride and selfishness. Not everyone is like you, Kakashi.' he said to his squad captain, walking towards the village as he disappeared into the busy streets of Konoha, leaving Kakashi Hatake alone at the village's gates. He had seen for the first time the years of pain and loneliness that had tortured Itachi. He felt his rawness of his deep hurt and his fears. Kakashi knew that from this point on, Itachi Uchiha was a changed man and that he would not hesitate to destroy anyone who would come between him and his light. The wind brushed his thick silver mane as he sighed deeply, replaced his forehead protector over his face and disappeared in a cloud of smoke as if he had never been there in the first place.

**...**

Miyeko had gone to the market to buy fresh fruits and vegetables. She had missed the taste of fresh food in the last week as the only sustenance she was provided with was food pills and dry rations. With heavy bags in hand, she slowly made her way back to her apartment, enjoying the sound of children playing ball in the street. Sometimes, she couldn't believe that destiny had brought her back to the Konoha, her home after all these years of exile. The rustling of the green spring leaves and the birds chirping echoed in her ears as she crossed the street, her apartment in sight. As she walked towards the street where she lived, she saw a tall, dark silhouette leaning against a nearby oak tree. She smiled as she recognized the young man's face. Itachi Uchiha approached her and smiled at her as the sun began to set behind them.

'Need a hand with those?' he asked, pointing to her heavy grocery bags. She shrugged and nodded.

'I could use some help, yes.' she said. He quickly grabbed the larger bag and they began to walk again. Miyeko brushed her shoulder against his as they made their way to her home. He reciprocated by not pushing her away, welcoming her gentle touch. He took a second to admire the intricate braid she was sporting, her hair in long and delicate tresses as it fell down her lower back. He could only envision her delicate fingers running sweet-smelling oils in her hair as she weaved those long tresses, softly tying the end of the braid with a black ribbon. How he wanted to untie her braid in turn and run his own fingers in those long black locks, inhaling the sweet perfume of hers. He tried to stop himself from experiencing those daydreams but in vain. He was overpowered by his own mind, by his desires. She interrupted his thoughts with the skin of her arm slowly brushing his.

'So what did our fearless leader want with you? I sensed he kept you for longer than he did with us before releasing you.' she asked. Itachi Uchiha looked at the sky and sighed, not wanting to reveal the nature of his last encounter with his squad leader for fear it would upset her.

'A routine mission assessment. Nothing you should be worrying about.' he said to her, his voice low and silky. She raised an eyebrow.

'Me, worry about you?' she started with a giggle. 'Don't flatter yourself, Itachi Uchiha. I was just curious.' she said, looking away, a faint blush drawn on her cheeks. As they reached her apartment, she turned to him and smiled. 'This is me.' she said, pointing at the small unit on the second floor of an apartment complex. He then snatched the second grocery bag out of her hand, earning a confused frown from her.

'What are you doing? I'm perfectly capable of bringing my groceries to my place by myself. You don't have to do that for me. I'll be fine.' she said, her smile turning into a pout as he removed the bags out of her reach. He chuckled and gave her a small smile.

'I know for a fact that you completely ignored Kakashi's advice and didn't go to the hospital to treat your injured arm so you are going to let me carry those bags upstairs for you. Overexertion should not be underestimated, Miyeko. I don't want you to hurt yourself.' he said, but she crossed her arms, resolved. She tried to grab the grocery bags from him, but he jumped out of her way, slightly annoying her.

'_Stop it_. Give me back my damn grocery bags right now, Itachi. I can do this alone.' she said. He sighed and looked at her deeply, his black irises meeting her green ones.

'I know you can do this on your own, Miyeko. But you're not on your alone anymore. You have me now. You can count on me. I know your injury is still painful. You can lie, but your body cannot. I see you wince every time you move your shoulder. Now, lead me to your home or I will have to carry you on my back as well, publicly shaming you for all eternity.' he said. The boastful look he gave her melted her attitude away. She sighed, exasperated.

'Fine. You win. Gods, you're so annoying.' she said, her jaw clenched. As they reached the second level of the apartment complex, she walked towards her door and stopped in front of the last door down the hall.

'Do you consider the key to my door too heavy for me to lift, Itachi? Want to open my door for me too?' she asked, jabbing at him with her witty sarcasm. He chuckled a distinct 'hn' in response as she unlocked her door. He patiently waited for her outside, leaning against her front door frame, a mysterious look in his eyes. She quickly dropped the bags in her genkan and turned around to face him again, his dark orbs meeting her green ones. The warmth in his expression was palpable. It made her blush, sending pleasant shivers down her spine.

'Thank you for helping me out, Itachi. I appreciate it. I hope my place wasn't too far of a trip for you to make. The Uchiha compound is at the other end of the village after all…' she said, suddenly conscious of the distance that separated their houses, hoping he didn't mind the long walk back. But Itachi Uchiha always had the perfect answer for everything that she had to say, she thought.

'I don't mind the walk. I had other errands to run in the neighborhood. Also, there was something I had to ask you.' he started, piquing Miyeko's curiosity. He scratched the back of his head nervously, leaning his body towards hers.

'Would you terribly mind coming to my place tomorrow night for dinner? My mother chewed me out earlier for not telling her about your return to the village and now Sasuke just won't stop asking about you. Please, for my sake, accept my invitation. I might never hear the end of this.' he said, a smirk growing on his face, the sunset colors from the orange skies brightening his face. Miyeko giggled. How could she ever refuse him?

'I'd be delighted to see your family again, Itachi. I quite missed them.' she said. She could feel his body closing in on her again, his strong shoulders brushing hers.

'And they quite missed you.' he replied echoing her words, his long bangs now slightly brushing Miyeko's forehead. She could feel the warmth of his body caressing her skin through her clothes. She knew the next thing she said would probably make him uncomfortable, but she had to know.

'And… did _you_ miss me?' she asked, her voice as quiet as a whisper. She suddenly felt a rush of anxiety run through her body, nervous at his stunned expression. He had remained stoic, his eyes riveted on her. She was transfixed at the expression in his dark gaze. There were so many things she had wished to say to him, but she was muted by her sudden fear that he didn't feel the same about her as she did him. After all, how could he? She had caused him so much hurt and yet he had been nothing but gentle and kind towards her. That night, when he took her in his arms and asked her to come back to him, to come back in his life… Did she imagine it? It still felt surreal to her, this sudden act of affection of his… Could he have really meant it? This happened during a mission, she reminded herself. As teammates, they had to be professional and in good terms to be able to communicate properly for the success of the mission. That was probably the reason why he wanted to rekindle their friendship in the first place, she reminded herself.

As she looked at the floor and regretting her words, Itachi then poked her forehead, earning a confused gasp from the Nagaki survivor. She blinked, stunned. She had no clue what had just happened. She then felt her world spin as her whole body move. He pulled her forward towards him, her chest suddenly crashing against his, their hips connecting. She gasped as Itachi reached for her waist and firmly held her in place against him, inhaling the sweet smell of her perfume as he moved his face over hers, delicately rubbing Miyeko's top lip with his own. Miyeko's heart was beating so fast in her chest that she could feel it beat in her ears. She then felt his lips move in a small signature smirk of his.

'_More than you could ever know_.' Was all he replied to her in a whisper before placing his lips on hers hungrily, taking the kiss they almost shared in the forest of the Lands of Wood for himself. Immobilized by shock, Miyeko let Itachi's lips caress hers, his hand slowly moving to find the delicate skin of her throat. Her fears left her body as she kissed him back, her lips demanding more of him as she ran her fingers through his hair, moving her hands down to his shoulders, bringing him even closer to her. All these years of solitude, all this pain that they had felt vanished with the soft sensation of their lips connecting, their bodies responding to this new desire of being close to one another. There were so many words left unsaid between them. With a kiss, she had revealed to Itachi all the emotions that she kept inside for all these years. This desire for his touch was now taking over her like an all-consuming inextinguishable fire.

Itachi grunted sensually and gently pushed her back on the doorframe, steadying her as she opened her lips to taste him. He licked her lower lip, his tongue begging for entrance. She was out of breath but she needed so much more from him, _so much more_. He could feel her need for more intimacy and slowly swirled his tongue around hers, creating a fire only he could ignite inside of her. She felt her knees weakening and her lower half burning with desire, wanting to bridge the gap that remained between their bodies. But he held her steady against the wall, his hand against her throat, denying her nonverbal request to gain control. Miyeko welcomed his dominance with a loud moan. He pressed his hips against hers, the heat of their lower bodies burning like hot coals. Her whole body was trembling in anticipation as she felt his tongue caress hers, twirl around in her mouth, massaging hers. She moaned again, inviting him to claim more of her. Even though she felt his strong hand pressed against her delicate neck, she could feel the tenderness in his kiss. As hungry for passion as he was, he remained gentle with her, just as he had always been.

When he broke the kiss, Miyeko noticed the sultry, hungry look in his eyes, a look she wished would never leave his black orbs. He pressed his forehead against hers, his hands slowly moving down the length of her arms, caressing her skin. The warmth of his breath and the caress of his nose on hers sent goosebumps running on the surface of her skin and he smiled when he noticed the tiny bumps of pleasure under his fingers. Miyeko felt he craved more, but he had stopped himself, nonetheless. Her hands were still firmly planted on his chest as she explored his pectorals with her digits over his shirt. He had grown so much, she thought to herself as she examined him closer. Itachi Uchiha had left his childish looks in the past and had become a man right under her nose. The attraction she felt towards him wasn't a simple fluke, she thought. He was what she had always craved for, what she had longed for ever since she could remember. Her younger self would never have been able to express what she felt but now that she was a woman, it all made sense to her. This was destiny. She had always wanted him close to her as he wanted her close to him. Now that she had him, she wouldn't ever let go. He slowly placed his lips over her ears, his silky deep voice purring in her ear.

'I'll see you tomorrow.' he said as he removed his body from hers and walked away, leaving Miyeko panting, stunned and bothered against her front door frame. She could feel her body sliding down the length of the wall as she found herself sitting in her genkan, flushed with this sudden rush of pleasure that Itachi provided her. She ran her fingers over her lips, where he had kissed her moments ago. They were still warm from his touch. She closed her eyes, trying to taste his lips in her mind again, desperately wanting to relive this moment as she let her thoughts overcome her. She sighed and giggled. She felt like a thousand pounds had been lifted from her shoulders, her heart as light as a feather. She rose up, closed the door behind her and dreamily walked towards her bathroom, a soft pink glow covering the skin of her cheeks. She had completely forgotten about her grocery bags and their content as they lay on the ground. Miyeko had drawn herself a warm bath. She slowly slipped herself into the warm water in silence and let her hands roam down below to alleviate the tingles flaring on her nether skin and deep within her. This time around, all she could envision in her aroused stupor was the look of yearning in Itachi Uchiha's eyes.

Unsuspectingly, Miyeko Nagaki had failed to notice that an ANBU agent had infiltrated her home earlier that day and had left an urgent summons for her from Danzo Shimura of Root on her kitchen table.


	14. The Sacrifice Every Shinobi Must Make

> Self-sacrifice... A nameless shinobi who protects peace within its shadow. That is a true shinobi.

The light of the bright orange colors of the sky fell upon the green budding spring leaves on the branches over Itachi Uchiha's head as he walked towards the Uchiha compound. The young man was walking along the forest path leading to the recluse corner of the village where the Uchiha compound was located and he couldn't help but think about what he had just done. A signature smirk decorated his face, his senses still overwhelmed by the lingering sensation of Miyeko Nagaki's soft lips on his. A part of himself tore at his consciousness for even crossing that ever-thinning line that existed between the acceptable and unreasonable when it came to Miyeko, the Nagaki clan's sole survivor and Shinigami of the Hidden Leaf Village. But another part of himself had pushed him to commit what he thought was a revelation in their renewed friendship, something he had craved for so long, an urge that hid deep within him for years until he couldn't hold it in anymore. He knew he had chosen to listen to the fire in his heart instead of the rationale of his head when he decided to follow her from the village's market, staying at a distance to keep her from immediately detecting his presence and that he was shadowing her every move, studying her every action. How delicate she appeared when she handled the apples she bought with her ever so elegant fingers, meticulously inspecting their freshness at the market. How feminine she looked when she gently swayed her hips while walking to her home. How exquisite she looked as the wind brushed her long braided black hair, her simple strand of white hair brushing at her rosy cheekbone...

Itachi stopped walking, taken aback by a flow of images that plagued his mind. Pictures of her long legs, her slightly curvy thighs and the round shape of her bosom irrigated his already fertile imagination. He could envision the delicate curve of her spine that crept up to the nape of her neck and her strong shoulders, her long black hair cascading down her back like a cascade of glossy shadows. He closed his eyes to let his mind wander with thoughts of her as the trees cloaked him with rays of the dim light of dusk. The wind's caress was almost as silky as her touch. He had been enchanted by her and the taste of her lips. He sighed heavily, pushing his long black locks away from his face, desperately trying to quiet his mind, trying to ignore his body's need to walk back to her apartment and ravish more than just a kiss from her. Itachi groaned, irritated. He was frustrated with himself for not being strong enough to resist the pull of the vortex that was the longing for him he found in her emerald eyes.

'What are you doing, you fool…' he whispered to himself.

He had to stop himself. Kakashi was right, he thought. The rational part of his brain knew that Kakashi Hatake had spoken the truth, that her presence was but a distraction and that she would be his ultimate weakness, his downfall. His heart and brain entered in an internal conflict. He knew what he should do. He knew perfectly well he should give her up and lead an exemplary shinobi life, the life of a weapon, a life without love. But to Itachi, the life of a ninja was a half life, a doomed existence. If only he had been given another choice in another lifetime, he would not have chosen this profession for himself. Itachi knew that he would have been content with being an ordinary man with simple yet fulfilling dreams. He had always wanted to be able to live with the freedom to choose and to love like all the other normal, ordinary, lucky men on this land. But alas, he was born as the heir to a powerful ancestral clan, a natural successor to visual powers only ignorant fools would ever dream to possess and inheritor to a damned life that would someday tragically end. _'I live by the sword and will die by the sword'_, thought Itachi. He knew about his fate. His life was already one of pain and misery and his death would surely be as grim and abrupt. He had been solely existing for a while now, his days passing by like the grey clouds above in the sky. And it had been so until he saw the warm light in Miyeko Nagaki's eyes again. Then, everything changed.

All of these night terrors, all of this anxiety, all of this pain he felt vanished when she was with him, when she smiled at him, when she looked into his eyes. He opened his eyes, realizing that without her, he was nothing. Without her, he was a ghost, an empty shell devoid of purpose. She breathed life into him and filled his mind with vivid colors and echoes of laughter. She had done so from the moment she had first looked at him all these years ago. He felt so empty for so long and now he was living again. He was resolute. He wouldn't let her go, he simply refused. Itachi concluded that he had become a selfish man and that on judgment day, he'd be punished for it. But as of now, Itachi Uchiha was irrevocably and equivocally entranced by Miyeko Nagaki and nothing would erase the desire to taste her lips again. **Nothing**. As Itachi walked home, the sun set behind him. Only the early pale moon in a darkening purple sky was witness to Itachi Uchiha's growing grin on his lips as his mind was submerged with thoughts of the dark-haired girl of his dreams. He walked through the gates of the Uchiha compound in a relaxed stride. When he got home, Sasuke had been waiting for him on the porch, his arms crossed. Itachi sighed. He had forgotten his training session with his little brother and shuddered at the thought of Sasuke not forgiving him for it.

'Good evening, big brother.' said the younger Uchiha with a distinct attitude. 'I guess you forgot about me. _Again_.' he continued, his eyebrow raised. Itachi smiled sheepishly and sat down next to his younger brother and patted his head.

'I'm sorry, Sasuke. I got held up.' he stated simply while Sasuke pouted.

'You always say that. Do you think I wouldn't notice that you use the same excuse every single time?' he asked. For an eight-year-old, Sasuke was exceptionally smart and perceptive. He had the capacity of taking notice to the smallest of details and his memory and cognitive skills were beyond impressive for his age. He could remember almost anything. There was no fooling Sasuke Uchiha.

'You're right. I apologize, Sasuke. But I can make up for my negligence, I swear. Actually, I have a surprise for you.' said Itachi, suddenly making his younger brother more receptive to what he had to say.

'A surprise?' asked Sasuke, confused. He uncrossed his arms and frowned. 'What kind of surprise?' he continued. Itachi gave him a soft smile, the kind of smile Sasuke rarely saw anymore.

'This better be good big brother, or I'm telling Mother you're ignoring me all the time. Bet you she won't like that.' he continued. Itachi scoffed at his younger brother's empty threat. He really did love his younger brother very much and adored watching him grow up to be a quick-minded, funny and intelligent young man. To come back home to Sasuke was Itachi's favorite moment of the day. Since Sasuke started studying at the Ninja Academy, he saw less of his younger brother but whenever they did spend time together like this, Itachi could only cherish his time with him.

'I think you'll enjoy it, actually. I'm bringing someone special over for dinner tomorrow. Someone very special.' said Itachi. Sasuke couldn't have looked more shocked. He couldn't believe it.

'But Itachi… you never bring friends home. Who is it? Please tell me it's not Shisui. He stole my last rice ball the last time you invited him over.' grumbled Sasuke, still sour at the fact that Shisui Uchiha, their cousin, was always picking on him.

'No, it's not Shisui. But it is someone Mom, Dad and you know.' he continued, patting his younger brother's head. 'Remember I told you a couple of days ago that a friend of mine was back in town? You kept asking who it was. Well, it's Miyeko. She's back for good.' said Itachi, a growing smile appearing on his lips. Sasuke smirked and rolled his eyes boastfully.

'So that's why Mother fussed all day cleaning and cooking?' asked Sasuke. Itachi smiled and nodded.

'Yes. You know how she gets when we invite friends… well, anyone over. She was so excited to hear about her. She missed her very much. I think she really likes Miyeko, don't you think?' asked Itachi in return. Sasuke shook his head and smirked.

'I think she's not the only one who likes Miyeko, big brother. I think you do too.' Sasuke said in a sly, mischievous voice. That statement took Itachi by surprise. The older Uchiha blinked, looking at his younger sibling with confusion and dread.

'Who told you this, young man?' he asked. Sasuke playfully laughed.

'Shisui did. He said you had the 'hots' for her, whatever that means.' Itachi frowned and swore under his breath. _'That goddamn Shisui!'_ thought Itachi. _'What a sneaky, shameless, insidious bastard.'_ He was definitely going to have a very lengthy conversation with his cousin about keeping things of the sort from his prying, curious younger brother. His thoughts were interrupted by Sasuke nudging his arm in a playful manner.

'I'm glad she's coming over, big brother. You seem happy. Happier than before. It makes me happy when you're happy.' said his younger brother, grinning at Itachi. Itachi sighed pulled his younger brother in a fraternal hug, grateful that he had such a smart, understanding and loving brother. He was so young and yet so emotionally connected to the people around him. It gave Itachi hope that Sasuke was not going to turn into someone like himself, a cold and closed off person to most with very little friends and prominent difficulty to communicate with others. _'No.'_ Itachi thought. Sasuke was a ray of sunshine, a beacon of light for him and his clan. He was going to change his clan's image and the perception of others towards the Uchiha, he was sure of it. After the rumors running around in the village about his clan, a new upcoming generation of optimistic and loyal Uchiha citizens and shinobi like Sasuke was perhaps the best solution to avoid an internal war within the village…

Itachi closed his eyes and sighed heavily. He slightly shook his head, trying to rid himself of the recurring image of his father looking down on him with such pride and hope for him and his clan to one day be a distinct, powerful group once again and be freed from the village's grip. His father's voice resonated in his mind and he remembered his solemn tone during one of their most recent late night talks. Fugaku had placed a hand on his eldest's shoulder and had smiled to him like he had never done before. '_One day, the Uchiha clan will retake its rightful place as the leading and most powerful clan of Konoha. You will be an instrumental part of our success, I'm sure you are aware of that. A change in this village is bound to happen, my son. We will finally have justice and peace for our own. They'll never give it to us, so we'll take what's ours. But we'll need you for that. Because you are the hope of our clan, Itachi. You are the future of our family. Your family is what you will be loyal to. Your clan and your blood need you, Itachi. Never forget that. One day, you will understand why we're doing this. Your position in ANBU is crucial to us right now, I can't stress this enough. For now, open your eyes and listen carefully to what's going on and what's being said around you. Report to me always. I'm proud of you, son._'

Those words were carved in Itachi's memories. He had felt sick that night, after talking to his father. He was confused. He was lost in what his role was. The idea of reporting confidential intel about the village to his father made Itachi's stomach turn. He could feel tears forming in the corners of his eyes. The Village Hidden in the Leaf… How could he ever betray his home like this? How could he spy on the higher-ups of the village and disclose confidential and sensitive information about the village's political and armed movements without feeling shame? And yet how could he ever live with himself if he betrayed his clan, his family, his own blood? What was he supposed to do? His father's shadow loomed over his mind and thoughts, his red Sharingan eyes inked into his anxious internal scenarios of treachery and betrayal. He shook his head again.

Today was not a day to think about the sneaky, growing pressure he felt from his clan to become someone he never wanted to be. As Sasuke hugged him back, Itachi exhaled deeply. There was nothing more he cared for more than his younger brother in this world and Itachi vowed on that night that he would do anything to protect him, to ensure a successful future for him and to see Sasuke smile every day. He would and will do anything for him and make sure he knew that he cared for him, even when they would grow apart with time. When he let go of Sasuke, the younger Uchiha sprung up and ran to the courtyard and looked at Itachi, kunai in hand.

'Alright, big brother. Since you've been a real jerk to me lately and you always seem to conveniently forget about me, you will spar with me now.' Itachi smiled and chuckled. He rose to his feet, walked over to Sasuke and took a simple fighting stance, readying a kunai for himself.

'Come at me then, Sasuke. Show me what you've got.'

**...**

Nightmares filled her head. She was distraught.

Flames. The burning of her childhood.

Evil yellow eyes. White skin. Snake like pupils. An evil laughter.

Anger, screams.

Her sister's white hair stained red with her blood.

Pain. So much pain. And then revenge. Shadows. Hell.

Miyeko woke up from her night terror, sweating and panting, her heart savagely beating in her chest. Her long black hair had been tossed around in her sleep, her single white strand of hair stuck to her face from the sweat of the fright she had just experienced. She sighed. These were the recurring images she dreamt of so often, images of her past that haunted her consciousness when she was asleep and that would torment her when she daydreamed. For so long she had tried to block these flashes of her past that would sadden and terrify her. But alas, she couldn't shake them away, she couldn't escape them. She often felt like a prisoner to the unrelenting distress she felt whenever she experienced these episodes of terror. She exhaled deeply and let herself fall on her back, her heartbeat slowly steadying down to a normal rate. Tears rolled down her cheeks. She knew these tears very well. They were tears of powerlessness. She gently wiped them away from her face, sobs escaping her lips. There was no running away from her nightmares. There was no running away from the pain caused by evil strangers that ripped her family away from her. There was only a hollow spot in her chest waiting to be filled with anger and despair. She was stuck in a life she didn't choose. She fell into an uneasy sleep once again in the dead of the night, her mind racing with a growing need for answers.

**...**

Miyeko Nagaki had risen before dawn the next morning and fully dressed in her pristine black Jonin uniform which had been freshly washed and pressed the night prior right after she read the note that Danzo Shimura of ANBU had left in her apartment. At first, Miyeko had been angry that a complete stranger had come into her home unannounced to deliver what seemed like a fairly regular summons that could have been handed to her in person. But as she read the note, she then understood why this summons had to be delivered in person and with utmost secrecy. As Miyeko read the delicately handwritten words, her fingers trembled. _'I summon you to the ANBU Headquarters at dawn tomorrow. I have a mission for you. Bring nothing but the essential. Do not be seen and do not talk to anyone but my officers. You will understand in time.' _Miyeko had read the summons many times but still failed to see why the highest-ranking ANBU officer and figurehead wanted to talk to her, of all people.

After the scene she had caused in the Hokage's office when she was awarded the position of Jonin, she thought Danzo Shimura, a proud and seemingly vindictive man at heart, wouldn't want to ever talk to her again. She could remember the heavy lines on his skin, his eye dark filled with suspicion and boiling anger as he had warned her to be wary of him before walking away from her, indignant and humiliated. What did he want with her and why summon her now? What could this man living in the shadows of the village want with her? She braided her hair silently, letting her mind fall into an abyss of mysterious and ciphered thoughts.

An uneasy feeling suddenly overcame her. She felt anxious. This man had a foul aura to him, a calm, quiet and dark energy that could only make Miyeko suspicious of his intentions. From the moment she had laid eyes on him, she knew he was a man with secrets. Deep, dark, bloody secrets that would send chills down the spine of any battle-hardened veteran shinobi or any experienced political leader. Secrets only the vile would appreciate. As she exited her apartment silently, Miyeko sighed. She just hoped her meeting with Danzo Shimura of ANBU would not cloud her otherwise perfect day.

Miyeko had walked away from the main streets of Konoha, silently making her way to ANBU Headquarters, staying out of sight of the civilians who were just waking up with the dawn's first light. She could smell the fresh bread from the bakery filling the air around her and the sweet scent of freshly brewed tea fill her senses. From a distant rooftop still plunged into the early morning darkness. Miyeko took her first real, genuine glance at the village she called home. The waking street shops and the cheerful shopkeepers were already instilling life into the otherwise quiet town. She smiled and sighed. How she missed this village, she thought. Distant memories filled her mind as she slowly made her way towards the appointed location of her summons.

She walked in the shadows of alleys of the center town, making sure no one followed her or even noticed her presence at all. Her black uniform made her body blend in the early morning shadows that danced around her. As she silently walked around town using Konoha's intricate system of alleyways, she couldn't help but feel like she was being watched. The feeling of foreign eyes on her persisted right until she reached the mentioned location, which looked like an entrance to a bunker, to an underground lair. Two ANBU officers were guarding the small entrance to the concrete structure. She approved them slowly and they quickly took notice of her. 'You must be Miyeko Nagaki.' the first one said.

'I am. What is this place?' she asked.

'The candy store.' the second one replied, sarcasm in his voice. The first guard then elbowed the second quite fiercely, a look of fear in his eyes.

'This is Konoha's Shinigami, you poor wretch! Watch your tongue or she'll rip it out.' The second guard bowed and apologized.

'Lord Danzo's been waiting for you. Follow us.'

Miyeko Nagaki executed herself. She followed the two ANBU agents down a narrow staircase that led to darkness.

In the far distance, hidden in a tree and with chakra well concealed, a man had indeed followed her to the ANBU's secret lair, studying her every movement. It was not in the general ANBU protocol to invite a regular Jonin to their most secret base. Only ANBU agents and the village's higher-ups knew of this place. And it could only mean one thing... Miyeko Nagaki had been summoned by Danzo Shimura. The man sighed and took one last glance at the secret lair's entrance in the hopes that Miyeko would come out and leave this forsaken place. Alas, he only saw darkness. He knew this summons wasn't an ordinary appeal for a regular, run of the mill mission. And considering Danzo Shimura has summoned her, it could only bring a bad omen for ANBU's next victims... The man sighed again. He needed to leave before he got spotted by the shinobi guards that surrounded the underground lair.

The only evidence of his presence on these grounds had been the crimson color of his eyes contrasting with the purple hues in the sky and the dawn's lingering shadows.

Itachi Uchiha vanished, leaving no trace behind.

**…**

Danzo Shimura looked at Miyeko Nagaki as her skin basked in a faint light of early morning that reached the depth of Konoha's foundations where the Headquarters of ANBU were located. The darkness of the purple shadows of the underground lair made her alabaster skin contrast with the dark fabric of the uniform that she was wearing, black in color. He slowly walked towards the lonesome standing figure that was before him and slowly took a step forward, moving his cane as he walked towards the Nagaki clan survivor, his pace slow but steady. She had arrived at dusk to the ANBU chambers, as instructed by the summons he had personally placed on her kitchen table the day prior. He inspected her closer, intrigued by her. He noticed the fairness of her skin as his eye ran down the lines of her body, down the length of her clothed arm to find himself looking at her delicate hands that were covered with metal-plated fingerless gloves. Her long black hair had been intricately braided into one elegant tress of hair with a single stray strand of snowy white hair that fell prettily on her cheekbone, brushing her thick black lashes.

As Danzo inspected his guest, he noticed the strength in her figure and in her expression as her deep green eyes warily followed his every movement, calculating his every step, discerning his every intention. He could see the intelligence in her eyes as he approached her, a sharp and distinct light glimmering in her emerald orbs. She wore a stone-cold look in her eyes, giving her a grave, almost severe-looking expression that clearly contrasted with the delicate lines of her face. Danzo stopped before her, his cane slightly grazing the hard concrete ground. A faint smile grew on his lips.

'I was beginning to think you wouldn't make it here.' he said, his voice raspy and quiet. She blinked, not losing track of his gaze.

'I'm not known to be late. Apologies for the delay. One can get lost around here.' she replied calmly, her breath steady as she faced the sinister minded man, his dark eye transfixed on her. 'Why did you ask me here? I do not answer to you.' she continued, her voice stern with suspicion. Danzo sighed and raised his hand, signaling to his officers to take their leave. As soon as he lowered his arm, the three men accompanying him had vanished in the shadows.

'Usually, when addressing me, my men kneel and bow their head out of respect.' he stated as he cleared his throat. Miyeko chuckled.

'I do not belong to you. I don't think this protocol applies to me.' she said with a tone of arrogance in her voice. Miyeko had waited for him to reprimand her for her behavior. He was her superior after all and he had all the rights to punish her for her disobedience. He was the Hokage's right-hand man, his private advisor and a village elder. These titles alone would make any man bow before him out of respect for his position, but Miyeko would take the risk and refuse him this honor. He had not earned her respect. Danzo opened his mouth and to Miyeko's surprise, he laughed. She wouldn't qualify his laughter as genuine and warm, but at the very least, it meant that she wasn't going to be immediately demoted of her Jonin rank.

'I don't remember the last time someone had the guts to talk to me that way. I'll admit little one, you have spunk. Just like your late sister.' he said as he regained his composure, his words stinging Miyeko's heart like sharp needles.

Her sister Kuri… She missed her. Her ghost still haunted her dreams at night and her daydreams too, her floating ghostly silhouette that followed her everywhere she went blinded Miyeko with tears on rainy days. Her memories of her were tainted with blood and a vision of a pale man's yellow eyes. Even until this day, she was tortured with the idea of destroying that mysterious man that stood tall before her crouched body, his vile yellow eyes glimmering with evil as the flames around them danced angrily, the sky clouded with thick smoke as her elder sister bled to death next to her. She could still see Kuri's blood on his man's hands. She could still see in her mind his disgusting, vile grin as he looked down on her with the same intention of hurting her just like he had hurt her family. These horrible memories were engraved in her mind for her to relive whenever she felt vulnerable and alone or too tired to fight them when she fell prey to despair on dark nights and in her nightmares. She frowned, trying desperately to hide her emotional discomfort.

'You see, Kuri Nagaki had a coveted place in my ranks, Miyeko.' he continued. 'She was so special, one of my best agents. A beacon of light and joy in the darkness of my work. ANBU truly benefited from her unique abilities and to this day, no one could equal her stealth and her sheer talent with chakra manipulation. A talent that you've also inherited from your clan… and from her.' he started, knowing this statement would make the young Nagaki shinobi uncomfortably curious.

Miyeko knew that Danzo knew about her abilities with natural release, but just how much did he know of what happened to her on that fateful day when she inherited her sister's abilities? He was the head of the secret forces of Konoha, after all. He must know more about her than she did herself. And she was curious. Her curiosity and desire to solve the riddles of her past itched at her skin. She had so many questions and very few answers, only speculations. What did he know that Miyeko didn't? She sighed, irritated.

'Said talent that you apparently wanted extinct all those years ago. I remember that day when you left me to die at the hands of the masked rogue ninja. Funny it is that my clan's abilities and my sister's bloodline limit are so important to you now, Lord Danzo. Thankfully, Kuri had more sense to her and disobeyed your orders. I also remember she ran her fist into your face as a reminder of your blatant mistake.' she said, smirking. Danzo's face remained stoic, his eyes narrowing, his lips growing thin with anger.

'But I am a magnanimous person, Lord Danzo.' she continued with a grin, knowing her tone of voice was irritating the older man. 'I'm willing to let bygones be bygones for the sake of the village. After all, that's why I came back, isn't it? To serve.' she said crossing her arms savoring her small victory against Danzo. The tension between the two shinobi was heavy. She could feel the anger boiling inside of the elderly shinobi, his uncovered dark eye looking directly into her with palpable frustration.

'Now, for the last time, why have you summoned me here?' she asked, her tone changing from severe to slightly aggravated, her teeth clenched together as her eyes narrowed on the elderly bandaged man. She wanted to intimidate him but Danzo is a man that could not be swayed by angry words. Darkness loomed over his features.

'The sole reason why I have let you in the village and granted you the rank of Jonin is that you will indeed play a major part in the village's safety. A very important, intimate part of it.' he said, Miyeko now feeling the prickling of anxiety running up her spine as she looked deep into his dark uncovered eye with a feeling of unease and foreboding. She frowned.

'What do you mean by that?' she demanded. He chuckled quietly and moved towards her again. Inches away from her now, his voice was but a quiet whisper and his face was darkened by the morning shadows and the sinister evil that clouded his mind.

'What do you know of the history of the Uchiha clan?' he asked. Miyeko stopped breathing. She couldn't comprehend why Danzo spoke of the Uchiha clan all of a sudden and feared the worst.

'I only know that it is a revered, ancestral founding clan of Konoha and that the members of this clan are good people who are loyal to the Village Hidden in the Leaf.' she replied defensively, unsure of Danzo's intentions. Danzo chuckled again but this time, he placed a firm hand on Miyeko's shoulder, his cane resting on the ground next to her. The smile on his thin lips sent shivers down her spine.

'Are they, now?' he asked. His cryptic dialogue was starting to make Miyeko feel sick, a knot growing in her stomach. She took a step back and frowned, her anger growing.

'What are you insinuating, Lord Danzo?' she asked, confused. Anger could be heard in her voice and uncertainty veiled her face. She was becoming agitated inside and images of Itachi started to float in her mind. Danzo knew he had played his cards right and was reeling his prey in. He could see the curiosity and fear in Miyeko Nagaki's eyes, that's all he needed for him to make his next move.

'What I'm trying to say, stupid little girl, is that the Uchiha clan is planning to overtake Konoha and if we don't act very soon, they will destroy this village, the place we call our home. Countless will die. Unless we play our cards right. They need to be annihilated. Every single one of them.'

She stopped breathing. Her heart skipped a beat. She could feel the sting of panic in her limbs. Her palms were sweaty. But fear quickly changed into unadulterated, pure rage.

She could feel her energy flare. Shadowy bubbles of chakra veiled her hands. She could feel everything. Everything but her hand against Danzo's throat, what she truly desired in that instant. She showed teeth, her eyes darting at his with a violent, palpably threatening intent.

'**_Lies! _**How dare you say such things!' she screamed at the ANBU leader, the dark veil of shadowy ectoplasm like chakra slowly covering her arms, reaching her chest. She could feel it completely absorb her own energy, trying to overtake her body. She inhaled sharply, focusing her chakra manipulation into her hand. All she needed to end him was a blade, she thought. A blade sharp enough to cut through flesh was all she needed to silence him forever for his treachery. But he laughed. He simply laughed at her anger. It enraged her. She could feel something forming in the palm of her hand, something sharp and heavy. She looked down, surprised at what she found. A blade. A dark, sinister-looking blade made out of her own chakra. She blinked. She blinked again, thinking she was imagining things.

'I see you're managing your abilities quite impressively, Miyeko, heir to Kuri Nagaki's powers. So eager to protect your adoptive family… How touching.' Miyeko's anger then turned into a deep, seething rage. Jiraiya had told her on their way to Mount Myoboku how Fugaku Uchiha was responsible for her protection after the incident. She was indebted to the Uchiha clan and right until she had left the village all these years ago, she had considered Itachi and his family to be her own. She would not take this shameless attack on the Uchiha clan's name and honor lightly.

'You're lying, snake! They would never do anything of the sort. _Never_.' she said quietly, trying to contain her rage, tightly holding on to the chakra blade in her hand. Danzo laughed again.

'You seem to be frankly ignorant of your little friends' intentions, it seems. Have you ever asked yourself why nobody ever fully trusts the Uchiha? Why their shinobi are never sent on solo missions? Why the only possible outcome of their shinobi career is either to be ANBU agents or officers of Konoha's Police Force? Why they were absent and guarded into strict confinement during the Nine Tailed Fox's attack on Konoha? Why they have been secluded from the rest of the village's society and their compound placed at a far distance, in a remote corner of the village?' he asked.

Miyeko was afraid to ask why. Her head felt so light and dizzy, deprived of strength. Her anger had turned her emotions into a physical and emotional malaise. Her head was spinning as she tried to decipher the elder's words, as she tried to discern the lies in what he was saying. But Danzo was steady in his breathing. He showed no sign of nervousness. He was standing tall and showed no sign of a deceiving body language. Danzo smiled and moved his lips to her ear, his tall body towering over hers. She could feel the sinister aura of the man that stood before as he whispered in her ear.

'Because they are and have always been cursed by an all-consuming evil. An evil you can see in their blood-red Sharingan. An evil that must be contained by all means necessary.'

Miyeko stood before him, motionless, her eyes staring into the distance but looking at nothing. She was frozen in time. Images of Itachi suddenly started to cloud her mind. His smile, his beautiful black hair, the crimson irises she so often looked into… How could such a wonderful, peaceful man be evil? She swallowed hard. She could taste bile on her tongue. Her knees trembled as small tears formed in her eyes.

'This is… it's impossible… They could never… How? How is this possible?' she whispered to herself. She exhaled and released the energy that had amassed in her hand, the shadowing cloak that surrounded her body disappearing. She fell to her knees, in shock. 'How do you know that this is true?' she asked, her voice shaking. Danzo sighed.

'We have known for quite some time that the Uchiha clan were plotting to take revenge on the village for the said abuse we have put them through. It might be abuse for some, but for me, they were necessary precautions to contain their treachery and uncontrollable powers. After all, who can rival a rampaging, Sharingan wielding war machine such as an Uchiha shinobi in battle? Measures had to be taken in the past in order for Konoha to have a peaceful future. Ambitious little things the Uchiha's are. Their ambitions have transformed as of late into a plot to overthrow the Hokage and the ANBU, a coup d'état that would leave the village open and vulnerable to nations that would want to destroy us. We need to put a stop to it.' he said simply, his voice echoing in the depth of the underground lair where they had been standing. She closed her eyes, desperately trying to regulate her breathing and the tears that flooded her eyes.

'Who knows about this?' she asked blankly, her voice trembling. She was in utter shock.

'The Hokage, the elders and the ANBU higher-ups. If the public knew of this… There would be a civil war and we cannot afford to look weak. And that's where you will prove to be detrimental to the safety of this village.' he stated, turning his back to her as he slowly took a couple of steps away from her. She looked at him with disgust.

'What is it that the Hokage is asking me to do?' she asked, her heart violently beating in her chest. There was a long moment of silence before she heard his voice again.

'Your mission is to infiltrate the Uchiha clan and report to us their filthy traitorous plans.' Miyeko's heart sank in her chest. Livid, she placed a hand to her mouth to prevent her from screaming. She wished in that instant that she never had left Mount Myoboku, that she never had left the comfort of the life she led with Jiraiya, that she never came back to this hell that was the world of a shinobi.

'As a double agent? I- I can't…' she started but couldn't finish her sentence. His deep voice echoed in the chambers.

'I know this must be hard for you. But to appease your worries and make this mission worth your time, I will give you what you've always wanted. Answers. Answers as to what happened on that day, when you got your extraordinary powers. If you complete this mission, I will tell you everything.' Miyeko silently gasped. Danzo was no fool. He knew that an avenger like Miyeko Nagaki craved for one thing and one thing only: answers to her questions. Answers needed to achieve their goals of revenge. Danzo had seen in her eyes, on the day of her promotion, the tamed but not invisible fire of vendetta that gleamed in her gaze.

_'The fish has taken the bait_.' thought Danzo as he saw the young Miyeko Nagaki crumble in front of him. Her blank stare was enough for him to know that deep down, he had won her over. She only needed to be steered in the right direction, thought Danzo, and with the idea of the truth of what had happened to her dangling in front of her nose, she would obey him. The thought of manipulating and utterly dominating the last of the Nagaki made Danzo salivate. This was going to be his vengeance on Kuri Nagaki, retribution he had waited three long years to finally grasp. And destroying Kuri's legacy by crushing Miyeko Nagaki, her beloved younger sister, felt nothing short of amazing for Danzo Shimura, Konoha's true shadow.

Miyeko could feel the weight of a thousand pounds crushing her shoulders. The thought of betraying her best friend's trust, his family's trust, his clan's trust… It was inconceivable to her and she seemed to have forgotten how to breathe. And then it happened again. Kuri's face appeared in her mind, her dead body haunting her. The smell of her blood that still filled her nostrils to this day was bringing Miyeko back to this horrible day, the day that sealed her fate, the day she was given a curse that would fill her days with misery. She knelt in front of Danzo, her knees were heavy on the damp concrete floor. Her heart was broken. Danzo clicked the foot of his cane on the hard ground, calling for her attention. His voice was now sharp, his intentions clear.

'Can we count on your loyalty?' he asked. Miyeko swallowed the bile that had amassed down her throat. She felt sick. She felt trapped, cornered. Konoha was her home but the Uchiha clan was her family now, the only family she had left in this world. She felt the weight of her decision ripping her apart. She closed her eyes and wiped the tears that were rolling down her pale cheeks. Kuri's voice echoed in her head. _'Being a shinobi of Konoha is not about being someone who can do it all, Miyeko. It's about being able to help others, to strengthen, to protect the big family that we are in this village. Some call if the Will of Fire. I call it a responsibility.'_ Miyeko Nagaki felt responsible to do what Kuri Nagaki, her beloved older sister, would choose to do in this situation. She was the bearer of her will. She exhaled slowly and raised her eyes to meet Danzo's. The emerald irises of the young Nagaki warrior never looked so dull, so sad. But her decision had been made. She needed answers_. 'I'm sorry Itachi. I'm so sorry...' _she thought.

'Yes.' Those words cut deep. Deeper than any blade. Deeper than the vilest of looks.

'Good. I knew you would make the right decision. The old fool Hiruzen has always said you held the Will of Fire within you, just like your sister did. Here, this should keep you motivated.' he said as he reached deep in his pocket. His hand resurfaced and what he held in his hand, he threw in the direction of Miyeko. The harsh noise of metal hitting the ground resonated in her ears as she looked down. A flow of tears rolled down her cheeks as she picked up an old forehead protector, the black fabric of the band resting in between her fingers. She recognized this forehead protector. It was the same that Kuri wore on the day she had died. Miyeko could see her faint reflection on the polish metal plate, a pair of sad green eyes staring back at her. Was this her life now? Was this the will of Kuri Nagaki? As Danzo walked away, Miyeko called out to him, her voice strained with emotions.

_'Wait!'_ she said. 'How am I supposed to know what to do? What are my instructions? How am I supposed to know where to start?' she called out to him, desperate for direction.

She heard him laugh. 'From what I heard, you have always been close to the heir of Fugaku Uchiha. Itachi Uchiha seems to greatly value you… in _many_ ways. You're a beautiful young creature, Miyeko. Surely you must be aware of your desirable allure, any man would be foolish to not want to experience your charms. Use the influence you may have over the boy to extract the information we need from him. Being the heir to the chieftain, he must be privy to the most confidential of their plans. Seduce him. Break him and report back to me. You are a tool, Miyeko, never forget it. Make good use of all your attributes and you will see, even great honorable men fall prey to a beautiful woman's will.' he said as he walked away, his body blending in the shadows of the underground lair until he could not be seen anymore.

Darkness surrounded her as she slowly walked away as well, clutching tightly to her sister's forehead protector. She held it so tight against the palm of her hand that the sharp metal edge of the metal plate cut through her hand, droplets of her blood falling on the ground. Miyeko disappeared into the early morning light with a terrible heaviness in her heart and tears rolling down her cheeks. She was nothing but a tool, she reminded herself. It was her duty to her village and a memento to her sister's legacy. But the memory of Itachi's beautiful crimson red Sharingan and soft lips danced in her mind like burning flames that consumed all her thoughts. They were then quickly replaced with Danzo's sinister stare and bloody memories of dangerous, snake-like yellow eyes.

**...**

Miyeko Nagaki had slept for most of the day, tormented by her talk with Danzo Shimura of the ANBU Black Ops. Her pillow was damp with tears. She turned around to face her window and noticed that the sun was setting. She had to get up. She had to get dressed and walk toward the Uchiha compound like nothing ever happened, like the terrible mission she was assigned to was naught but a sad dream. Every single scenario that ran through her mind lead to the same bitter end for her. She would be branded a traitor if she spied on the Uchiha clan, her adoptive family and would be called a turncoat if she renounced the mission she was assigned to, leaving Konoha to be destroyed by civil war. There was no winning outcome for her, there would never be after today. She could feel a Damocles sword hanging over her head, threatening her with the weight of the decisions she had made.

Her shoulders felt stiff and heavy and the pain she felt in her heart was unbearable. As she dressed in casual yet elegant black garments, she couldn't help but to reminisce in the memory of Itachi Uchiha's touch against the skin of her arm, against the sensitive skin of her throat as he had even so sensually traced his digits on her body. She groaned and sat on the edge of the bed, frustrated with her fate, frustrated with herself for not being able to control her thoughts. Miyeko sighed deeply. She knew that if she put a name on what she was feeling for Itachi Uchiha, the prodigy and hope of the Uchiha clan, she would lose all resolution to accomplish her mission_. 'I am a tool, a weapon.'_ she reminded herself. But the memory of Itachi's soft gaze weakened her resolve. The anticipation of his body's proximity to hers made her sighed in exasperation. _'I shouldn't feel those things.'_

She silently braided her hair and slowly made her way out with a look devoid of emotions in her eyes.

**...**

Miyeko stood before the Uchiha's clan chief house, silent and anxious. She hadn't set foot on the Uchiha compound's grounds in three years. The houses she passed by, the opened shops selling specialty items, even the small park had remained the same, frozen in time. As she walked towards Itachi Uchiha's house, she couldn't help but notice how her presence seemed to make the locals irritated. Some of them even gave her a look of disgust when she walked past them. She could feel they're prying, upset eyes on her. She was a stranger to them after all and if what Danzo said was correct, she was an oppressor to them, a symbol of hate for their clan as a shinobi serving under the Hokage. She had never felt so out of place, so small in her own little world. Even dressed plainly, people recognized her. They knew who she was, they had heard of her years ago. She swore she almost heard an old lady she passed by calling her by her surname, the Shinigami of Konoha. She ignored the old woman's whispers and walked along the winding road that led to the biggest house on the compound, the house she visited so often to spend time with her childhood friend.

When she reached the gates to Fugaku Uchiha's residence, Miyeko sighed heavily, trying to find the courage she needed to take another step forward, a step that would bring her closer to damnation. She looked at the sky, trying to prevent the tears forming in the corner of her eyes to roll down her cheeks. But she quickly had to regain her composure as she heard a budding voice in the distance calling her name.

'Miyeko! Is that you?' the young voice said. Miyeko blinked and looked at the Uchiha residence's porch. There had been standing Sasuke Uchiha, beaming and waving. She smiled widely. How he had grown. As he ran towards her, Miyeko knelt and grabbed him in his arms when he reached out to her. His raven black hair tickled her face as he buried his face in the nook of her neck, his arms wrapped around her in a fraternal hug.

'I knew you'd come back! I missed you so much.' he said to her.

'I missed you too, buddy. You've grown so tall and strong, Sasuke! Soon, you'll be taller than me.' she said as he released himself from her embrace. His dark eyes were full of sparkle and joy. He then scratched the back of his head timidly and giggled innocently.

'Shisui was right. You're so pretty, Miyeko.' he said, his smile warming Miyeko's heart. She was about to hug him again when she heard a high-pitched gasp. Miyeko looked up and saw Mikoto Uchiha, the clan's matriarch, with her eyes full of tears and hands over her mouth. Miyeko rose and walked towards the Uchiha clan's woman, a bright smile etched on her face. She quickly wiped her tears away and grabbed Miyeko in her arms, holding on to her tightly in a maternal accolade.

'It's nice to see you again Mikoto.' Miyeko whispered to her, a flood of happy emotions flowing through her. She had missed what it felt like to be embraced by a mother.

'Miyeko, I have been so worried for so long… No news from you. You just disappeared. I was so worried about you… I knew you were in safe hands but still… We tried to keep you in the village, Fugaku tried his hardest to bring you home…They wouldn't let us… But I'm so glad you're back. You've grown so beautiful and healthy...I'm so happy.' she said, silent sobs escaped her lips. It took all of Miyeko's strength to not burst into tears. Mikoto had always been so loving to her and the thought of her worrying the Uchiha matriarch made Miyeko ache with uneasiness. 'I'm sorry I've had you worried, Mikoto. Jiraiya kept me safe, I can assure.' she whispered back, holding on tight to the woman whom she had considered a second mother to her ever since she was a young child. Mikoto released the Nagaki survivor and smiled, her tears slowly drying on her cheeks.

'I hope he took good care of you. It doesn't matter to me if he's a legendary Sannin or not. If there were any news or sign that he didn't treat you well, I was ready to climb that damn frog mountain myself and give him a piece of my mind.' she started with a muted giggle. 'Look at you.' she continued, scanning Miyeko Nagaki from head to toe.

'What a pretty thing you've become.' she said. Miyeko blushed. Any more compliments like these and her ego would surely swell out of control, she thought. Mikoto grabbed her by the hand and they walked towards the house, Sasuke running past them excitedly. Miyeko heard Mikoto sigh in relief.

'You know, ever since Itachi told us you came back to the village, he hasn't been the same. My son smiled for the first time in years, Miyeko. _Years_. He started talking again. He's able to sleep again. I never thought this possible. We did everything we could for him. Nothing worked. I was afraid that we were going to lose him, Miyeko. He barely ate and hid away in his room to study, shutting himself from the world for so long... He went through so many nights of sorrow. I could always hear him cry in the night but unable to console him. He wouldn't let me in. He wouldn't let anyone in. As a mother, it broke my heart to see him so unhappy. But then, when Shisui and Itachi told us that you came back to the village for good, I saw a light in his eye. And ever since then, he's been… different. I'm so grateful to you. We can finally be a family now.' she said. Miyeko looked at her with sorrowful eyes. How much did Itachi suffer while she had been away? She looked at the ground, a tinge of sadness pinning at her heart. If only Mikoto knew just how similar she had felt for so long…And what she was about to do to her and her family… But Miyeko stayed silent as she was invited inside.

The smell of home was nostalgic for her. It smelled of wood, freshly prepared food and comfort. But nothing felt like home to her like the warm onyx eyes of Itachi Uchiha, who walked down the stairs to greet her in his home. Miyeko's heart beat faster when she saw his strong yet lean silhouette and a blush crept on her face when he gazed at her intensely, his onyx orbs meeting her emerald ones. She bit her lip, her heart skipping a beat when he gave her a small smile. 'Miyeko.' he called out to her, his deep voice sending shivers down her spine. She could almost feel him radiating his own special kind of heat. It gave her stomach butterflies. She tried to fight her feelings back, in vain.

'Itachi.' she replied breathlessly, her voice quiet and shy. Miyeko looked away nervously, fearing he might notice just how a simple mention of her name made her all the more infatuated with him. Mikoto raised an eyebrow, witnessing their reunion. She chuckled and smiled.

'I think I'll leave you guys to it. Fugaku shouldn't be left alone in the kitchen. Ever.' she said in a giggle. Mikoto quickly walked into another room, leaving the two youth to stand in the entry hall of the house, facing each other.

He then walked to her, suddenly grabbed her and pulled her aside to a hidden corner of his house's genkan. She was now so close to him he could have sworn he almost hear her heartbeat through her chest. He could feel the heat radiating from her now flushed cheeks. He was now the one who seemed to be struggling to catch his breath, stunned by the beauty of her rosy flesh. She had bat her thick black lashes and looked down to the ground, biting her lower lip timidly, avoiding his gaze. He walked up to her and grabbed her chin, pulling her gaze upwards again, her eyes meeting his once again. This time, he felt it. He felt it throughout his body.

That light in her eyes was most definitely what he had seen in her emerald orbs the day before, right as he had pulled her close to him, right before he had placed his lips on hers, right before he tasted the most sinful yet delicious delicacy the world could offer him. He noticed how delicate light brown freckles decorated the ridge of her nose to the rosy flesh tone that colored her lips. His lips formed a curved line and he inhaled her perfume. He was becoming addicted to her scent, to the sweet scent of the essential oils she put in her hair.

'Don't look away from me.' He said, bringing her face ever so slightly closer to hers, deepening the blush on her cheeks. Her emerald eyes pierced his very soul. She gently placed her hands on his chest, feeling his heartbeat at the tip of her fingers, anticipating what she feverishly craved ever since she last saw him.

'I can see you when you look at me. All of you.' he whispered again, slowly lowering his head towards hers, the need to taste her lips testing his willpower.

'Itachi…' She purred to him. Her hands slowly moving down his chest. The delicate touch of hers on him over his shirt sent a wave heatwave through Itachi's body. Her fingers ran down the soft lines of his stomach, making Itachi suddenly aware of his own body's arousal and just how dangerously close to the point of no return he was. She then slowly hooked his pants’ waistband with her fingers, the flesh of her digits against the skin of his lower waist. She pulled him closer to him, their hips connecting ever so slightly, the warmth from their sudden proximity spreading like wildfire across their skin. Their lips were now brushing, the graze of their skin creating fiery anticipation of what was to come.

'Itachi… I don't just want you to see me. I want you to _feel_ me.' she said, the innocence in her voice teasing at the last drops of self-imposed discipline he had. She reached for his hands, enlaced her fingers with his and slowly brought them to her lower hips, pushing them downwards. Itachi inhaled deeply as his hands brushed the clothed skin of her lower back and slowly crawled down the soft lines of her bosom. Itachi's mouth opened slightly, his fingers gently squeezing the skin beneath them. Soft, plush, warm skin that made him drunk with a newborn lust. He could feel something stir inside of him, something that ran down his body to his lower half. He could hardly contain himself. Something inside him snapped. He bit her lower lip and his hands grabbed her hips and pushed them against his budding hardness below.

Miyeko moaned under him, out of breath from the intensity of the feeling of his lips crashing on hers. Miyeko returned the kiss impatiently, her tongue finding Itachi's. Never in her life had she ever been so hungry for his touch. Her body ignited into all-consuming flames and Miyeko pressed her chest against his, her arms wrapping around his neck. Itachi groaned in pleasure and pushed her against the wall, reaching down with his hands, grabbing the back of her thighs.

'Straddle me.' he commanded. She executed herself, sensually wrapping her legs around his waist, bridging the rest of the space between the both of them before she moaned again, her tongue twisting around his. He broke the kiss, out of breath and desperately holding on to his last strand of willpower. He had to blank his mind in order to remain in control of his lower body, his growing hardness making his pants feel tighter.

But the way she looked at him, the way her half-closed eyes stared at him, right through him… She trusted him completely, baring her soul to him. He knew in that instant that she was as ready as he was to discover more of their bond. He lowered his lips and bit into her neck, his teeth slowly sinking into her skin. She groaned in ecstasy.

'Oh, Itachi… Make me forget the pain...' Soft whines escaped her lips, driving further his urge to please her. His soft mouth began to suck on her neck, his hands resting on her waist, his fingers gripping the fabric of her clothes with pure animalistic instinct. He wanted to taste more. He pushed the fabric of her shirt away and he let his warm tongue drift from her neck to her collarbone, his mouth kissing it gently.

'You're so beautiful.' he gently said to her, pulling a timid moan from her. 'And your skin is so soft...' he continued. She tightened her legs around him, wanting to feel every inch of him, wanting to feel the harness between his legs. She could feel a familiar wetness dampening her undergarments from arousal. He could feel it, smell it. His lustful onyx eyes had turned into crimson Sharingan looked down on her again, this time looking deep within her, in her very soul. And she let him. What he then saw made his heart stop, his blood freezing in his veins. Pain. Anger. Loss. Emptiness.

She gasped when she heard footsteps quickly coming their way from the other side of the house, Sasuke's energy rapidly approaching. She quickly removed herself away from him. When he heard his younger brother's voice call out to them, he pulled away from her, his chest heaving with a sudden rush of anxiety and sadness. Miyeko looked down and walked away from their position, meeting Sasuke halfway down the hall.

'Miyeko! Have you seen Itachi? Father is looking for him!' he exclaimed. Miyeko brushed the stray strands of hair that had escaped her braid out of her flushed face and smiled.

'He had a quick errand to run, Sasuke. He told me he'd be back in a few. Let's go help your mother set the table, alright?' she said, pulling Sasuke away and into the dining room, leaving Itachi alone with his raging thoughts. He frowned, realizing that Miyeko Nagaki, his childhood friend, was opening herself up to him in ways he never thought she would have. He knew that deep down she was never going to be able to hide a secret from him, she was never going to be able to hide what was on her mind from him. Not with his cursed eyes. He saw the dark clouds looming inside her mind. Unbeknownst to her, he saw something dark, and deep and painful within the depths of her psyche. Something that weighed on her conscience, something so vile it even disturbed him. And that hazy image revealed itself to be Danzo's shadowy face and the Uchiha crest symbol burning to the ground. Itachi sighed deeply, his fists clenched tightly.

She would not be alone in this. He could feel her pain. He could feel her confusion. He knew of the sacrifice they had asked her to make. He knew of the guilt and ugly secrets. He could feel her anger and despair. He knew of the weight of her responsibility. He knew instinctively what they had tasked her to do and how it killed her inside.

He knew because they asked the same sacrifice from him, too.


	15. Of Pain and Truth

> No matter what darkness or contradictions lie within the village... I am still Itachi Uchiha of the Hidden Leaf.

For a moment, there was happiness.

A family dinner was everything that Miyeko Nagaki had dreamed of for many years. When she had walked into the kitchen, the Uchiha matriarch was playfully slapping Fugaku Uchiha, the Head of Clan, with a damp washing cloth.

'I told you not to come near my meal, Fugaku!' she yelled. 'Whatever food you touch in my kitchen_ always _finds a way to burn or spoil!' Miyeko and Sasuke had both grinned at the sight of Konoha's Chief of Police being scolded as he silently begged his wife to stop reprimanding him, his hands clapped together as he sneaked forgiveness. She then giggled and shook her head.

'You will never change. What am I going to do with you?' she asked, still unaware of their younger son and guest leaning against the main house's door frame. Fugaku chuckled.

'What you've been doing all along, dear wife.' he said as he picked up the heavy nabe pot and placed it in the middle of the table. He turned his body around again and the seriousness on his face disappeared, leaving place for a small and almost indiscernible smile on his lips when he saw Mikoto Uchiha's raised eyebrow. 'Put up with me the best you can and hope for the best?' he tried, his mouth curling up in a playful smile, something that was considered rare in the Uchiha household. He was slapped with the wet rag once more and he winced, still smiling. Mikoto's eyes narrowed but soon, she couldn't contain her giggles.

'You are incorrigible, Fugaku! _Please _go get the kids. They must be hungry by now- _oh_, Sasuke, Miyeko!' she said with a surprised look on her face as Sasuke Uchiha stood there, blinking in disbelief. He had never seen his parents so happy together. It was the first time since he could remember that they were playful and cheerful with one another. His father was a stern and busy man, after all. A faint happy blush appeared on Sasuke's cheeks. Seeing his parents like this was a rare sight indeed. A rare, lovely and wholesome sight that made him happy.

A sight that didn't have the same effect on Miyeko as her thoughts immediately brought her to a very dark place, a place she tried to avoid at all cost to remain focused on duty but couldn't run away from. The faint smile that decorated her face faded and she found herself looking at the ground, her mind heavy with a sudden surge of sorrow. She felt her hands shake, as well as her breathing. _Don't panic. Don't let anyone see. _While Sasuke walked to his parents, Miyeko stood there, lost in time and space, her gaze unable to meet her hosts. Shame weighed on her shoulders. _I am ungrateful. I cannot let anyone see my pain, my mission's what counts. They are not your real family, your family is dead. This is an illusion, _she tried to remind herself. _This is an illusion and the only way to dispel this illusion is to complete your mission. It's all that matters, now._

There she was, about to have a meal with a family that had been sentenced to death by the authorities of their village and to be executed by her, the chosen weapon. She tried to shake away her last words with Danzo Shimura but his dark aura stained her thoughts. She found herself needing support and she leaned against the wall, her white strand of hair gently falling on her cheek. Sasuke's content laughter brought tears to her eyes. She would even have to kill him. _Even him, this little bundle of raw joy…_ She bit her lip, trying to stop the tears from forming in her eyes. She then sensed a presence behind her and she felt a warm hand touch her arm. Her head slowly turned and she met Itachi Uchiha's dark onyx eyes again. She quickly blinked and looked away again, hoping he didn't see the distress on her face as she dried the small drops that had formed in the corner of her eyes.

'Are you hungry?' he asked.

'Yes. Of course.' Miyeko lied, gently nodding at him. She had no appetite. But she knew that she had to play her role and act hungry, even though the simple thought of food made her nauseous. His warm touch made her forget about her sorrow for that brief moment. His lips curved in a shy smile, his eyes looking deep into hers. His dark orbs were like a sea of comfort and warmth to her, even in her despair, even in this situation where she had lost hope. _Even you._

'Come and eat, guys or it'll be cold.' said Mikoto as she witnessed the most peculiar moment of intimacy between the two shinobi as they looked deeply into each other's eyes, her son's hand gently placed on the Nagaki youth's arm.

In all of her life as a mother, Mikoto Uchiha had never seen her son break the physical barrier of touch with anyone but on that day, she saw his fingers brush ever so adamantly against Miyeko Nagaki's skin that it took even her by surprise. A silent gasp escaped the Uchiha matriarch's mouth. She blinked, thinking she was dreaming. But the look her eldest son gave this young woman was the one of comfort and attraction, of warmth and trust. Mikoto then glanced at Miyeko Nagaki and found her green eyes meeting his dark ones and returning this long, soulful gaze. Mikoto sighed and looked at Fugaku from the corner of her eye and noticed that her husband was also witnessing this unusual moment. Even Sasuke, as impatient as he was to eat, noticed the scene of them sharing this longing, intimate gaze.

Miyeko could feel her heartbeat faster once again as it pounded in her ribcage, images of their previous kiss bringing a familiar warmth throughout her body. But this warmth was replaced with the coldness of duty. _No more, _she thought. Silently, she walked towards the Uchiha family that had been waiting for Itachi and herself to join them and for the rest of the meal, she kept to herself, listening as she ate in silence, taking in as much information as her memory could store. And in agonizing silence, Itachi watched her struggle to keep up her facade and tried to ignore the constant swelling of small tears she fought back and images of bloodshed that haunted her mind.

With his cursed eyes, he could see everything.

* * *

The sun was setting and gave a warm orange glow to the sky. After their meal, Miyeko had excused herself from the table and silently walked towards the rear end of the house, remembering that Mikoto once kept a beautiful garden of flowers in the Uchiha's household backyard. When she opened the back door of the main house, Miyeko was greeted with a familiar childhood image of the leading Uchiha family's large backyard, where Itachi and her used to practice Taijutsu and shuriken throwing years ago.

As she closed the sliding door behind her, she stepped on the back porch and inhaled deeply, the scent of fresh flowers filling her senses. But even the scent of spring flowers couldn't erase the horrors of her duty. During their meal, she had listened to Fugaku speak about Konoha Police's various missions. This information was not vital to her mission, but any intel about his men's movements and his clan's involvement could help her achieve her goal. Miyeko swallowed harshly, her throat dry from anxiety. _You can't let personal emotions get in the way now. Not when the village is in danger. They are just people_, she thought. But she knew she was lying to herself when her mind spoke those words. The Uchiha were not _just_ people. They were **her** people, the ones that had saved her when she was cast away from the village, the ones who vouched for her when no one else would.

Miyeko groaned, more and more conflicted by her conscience.

She felt guilty. Guilty because she was a part of their clan and yet she agreed to betray them. She had known Fugaku, Mikoto, and Sasuke ever since that day when Itachi had invited her over all these years ago. They had nurtured her when her kin couldn't have fed her and protected her from harm. Is this how she would ultimately repay them? With treason? Were these rumors of the Uchiha betrayal even founded?

'How… Why…' she whispered emptily.

She silently sat on the Uchiha's back house porch, her blank gaze staring at nothing, her mind tortured with the imaginary screams of the Uchiha clansmen and children she had agreed to kill. Images of what had yet to happen drowned her with sorrow and yet, only an empty vacant expression could be read on the lines of her face. Itachi Uchiha's footsteps stop behind her and his voice called out to her calmly.

'So you've been hiding here.' He approached her and quietly sat next to her. He kept silent for a while until he could hold silent no more.

'You seem out of sorts.' he observed. Miyeko turned her gaze to him and shrugged.

'Since I came back to the village, I can't help but notice that… our home has changed.' she replied. Itachi sigh.

'Time changes a village… and its people. It is the way of life.' he replied to her. 'It is how we change with time that determines who we become as a person. We can only hope to become someone that mirrors who we truly want to be.'

His words reverberated within her. 'Who do you want to become, Itachi?' she asked. His dark eyes looked in the distance, shining with the bright orange light of the sunset.

'I want to become a man of honor. Someone my clan and my village can depend on. That's why I became a shinobi. To protect the ones I love.' he replied. Miyeko scoffed. 'You already _are_ that man, Itachi.' He looked at her. 'Then, I want to become a man that can earn your trust.' He replied.

Miyeko blinked. Confusion spread across her face.

'My-my trust?' she asked, confused.

'Yes. I want to become someone you can count on unconditionally. I want to be a pillar for you.' he replied as he slowly slid his hand towards her, his fingers gently touching hers. Their fingers interlaced, she felt her heart beat faster.

'Who do you want to become, Miyeko?' he asked in return.

The question made her stomach twist in anguish. She could taste the bile in her mouth and couldn't look into his eye. She lowered her head and sighed. 'I just wish I could become someone as honorable as you. But… I'm afraid I'll never be able to…' she said, her voice trailing off into the wind. Itachi looked at her with empathy, aware of her visible discomfort. Her pain angered him. How much torture could she endure because of the foolishness of his kin?

His fingers traced patterns on the skin of her hand, soothing her.

'I know that I am young and may not be ready to bear the sadness in your heart, but can you promise me something, Miyeko?' he asked. She slowly turned around to meet his onyx eyes but stopped in her tracks, guilt eating at her.

Her only answer to him was a long sigh. Itachi Uchiha felt his heart sink in his chest. Seeing Miyeko Nagaki in this state troubled him, more so than what he had seen deep inside her mind. He slowly reached to cup her face and turned her head to face him. Her eyes damp and glistening with the late afternoon's light, she finally found a shred of courage to look at him. He inhaled deeply and slowly grabbed her hand, placing his over hers with utmost care and gentleness. The passion they had experienced earlier had now transformed into a feeling of compassion and trust.

'Promise me that we'll always be truthful to one another. Always.' he said to her. Another tortured sigh escaped her lips. Miyeko Nagaki felt the warmth of his expression. There was no judgment in his dark eyes, only clarity. She then slowly nodded, knowing only too well that saying the words would only bring more lies and deceit.

'I promise.' she said, her voice heavy with sorrow. Miyeko wondered how Itachi Uchiha could be so gentle, so kind, and serene.

He was so warm, just like the sun. _If only he knew what I have to do… What I have to do to him and his family… He would hate me, _she thought. He then closed his eyes and leaned in, their foreheads connecting lovingly, their bodies leaning on the other. He just wanted to be close to her, to ease her pain. She let herself bask in the familiarity of his touch, her white strand of hair brushing the skin of his cheeks as their noses rubbed tenderly against the other, their lips almost connecting. But there was no kiss, just a need to be closer to one another. Itachi Uchiha inhaled her scent and let it fill his senses. His desire to be close to her was but smeared with the images he saw deep within her consciousness, images that foretold what he had feared the most.

He slowly pulled away from his embrace and his gaze met hers once again.

'Did you agree to it?' he asked bluntly. Miyeko blinked and quickly snapped her hand away from his. Shock and fear could be read on her face. She pushed herself away from him in utter terror.

_What did he- how could he have known? _Her thoughts were in shambles_. _The comfortable silence that crept between them suddenly became stiff and heavy. The fear she had kept inside turned into slow-burning anguish and her green eyes narrowed with anger and confusion. But she remained tight-lipped. Itachi sighed heavily again, knowing that she would be reticent to tell him of her assigned mission. She was a shinobi, he reminded himself. Secrets were her specialty.

'You promised, Miyeko.' he said firmly. 'You promised me the _truth_.' He said, his voice unfaltering.

'...What?' was her reply.

When Itachi reopened his eyes, his irises were red. His Sharingan brilliantly shone in the rays of the setting sun.

Miyeko's emerald green orbs met with his Sharingan once again but this time, there was fear in her eyes. Real, tangible fear. She was now afraid of something she thought had been so beautiful and unique for so very long. These blood-red eyes… They pierced right through her, left her naked before her self-hatred and lies. She understood why Itachi Uchiha was feared, why he was respected amongst Konoha's enemies. He was dangerous.

'I think we should have this conversation elsewhere.' he replied sternly, suddenly getting up and forcefully pulling her along with him, his hand tightly gripping her forearm. She had no time to protest.

'Let me go.' she warned him, her green eyes now sparkling with budding anger.

'No.'

Before long, Itachi Uchiha had pulled her away from the comfort and familiarity of his garden and dragged her into a lush spring meadow outside the main compound, where he knew they'd be alone, away from sight. The thick bushes rustled against their legs as Miyeko tried to pull her arm away from him, to no avail. His grip was deadly. All she could see beyond the warm tears in her eyes was Itachi's long ponytail whipping against his back as he dragged her further into the woods. When they reached a clearing, he let her go and she growled at him.

'How dare you!' she bellowed. He turned around and glanced at her with his blood-red eyes.

'I'm sorry. But we couldn't talk freely about this in my mother's garden. Surely you can understand why.' he replied, the stillness of his voice making goosebumps run down Miyeko's spine.

'There's nothing to talk about. I'm leaving.' she replied, wrath coating her words. But she was not angry at him. No, she was angry at herself for even letting him see what lurked inside of her mind. Her carelessness irritated her. _I should have been more careful around him. I know what he's capable of, what his eyes can do… I was so careless._

'Don't leave. Please.' he said to her. The sadness in his voice pinched at her heart and made her stop in her tracks. She turned around again and this time, tears were rolling down her cheeks. Her emerald green eyes glimmered with resentment.

'What did you do to me exactly?' she asked, angrily intrigued by the means he used to get his information. She snapped. 'Was it your Sharingan?' But she didn't have to hear his answer. His apologetic expression confirmed it all for Miyeko whose eyes felt the sting of wrathful tears.

_He knew. He knew all along_. _Fuck!_ Her negligence pricked her skin, angering her further.

'Please don't leave. _Please_. Don't go.' he pleaded, his voice now vibrating with despair. But she would have no part in this conversation. She quickly took a step back, on her guard again.

'Why should I entertain you? Whatever you need to know you can just pry out of me with your eyes. So go on then! _Do it_!' she screamed at him. Her shouts made his heart beat faster. He had never seen her so angry, so full of rage and pain. But he remained still and silent. He only looked at her, unwavering. She was crumbling before him, the last shreds of control over her emotion quickly dissipating.

'I said _**do it**_**!**' she said, her words as sharp as knives. Itachi had never seen such pain and anguish in her beautiful green eyes. He took a deep breath and exhaled sharply. But his feet were firmly planted into the ground.

'No.'

He then deactivated his Sharingan, his eyes returning to their onyx color. He then gently walked towards Miyeko, who quickly stepped back again, taking a defensive stance.

'Don't come any closer.' she warned him. 'How do you know what you know? What did you see?' she barked at him. _'Tell me!'_

Itachi Uchiha stopped moving. He stood in front of her. He felt the burn of her gaze on his body.

'When we kissed… When you looked at me… I saw the Uchiha crest burn. Inside your mind, there was so much turmoil. And there was his face… Danzo Shimura's face. All of this lingered inside of your psyche. I knew then that ANBU had asked something of you.' he said. Miyeko fell to her knees, in shock.

'How do you know it was the ANBU Black Ops who summoned me?' she continued, in total disbelief of what she was hearing. The panic had set in inside of her, Itachi felt it. But she deserved the truth, all of it.

'This morning, I followed you to their secret Headquarters. Only ANBU Black Ops know of this place. I knew they would summon you, sooner or later...' he continued, his voice muted by the sounds of the forest that surrounded them. Itachi shuddered when the anger in her eyes turned to wariness. He could see her teeth showing through her snarl.

'You _followed_ me?' she said, her voice now strident with distrust. But Itachi kept his calm.

'Yes. I had to. To ensure your protection.' he said, walking towards her. She growled and took a fighting stance, her hands raised in the air, the dark chakra swirling violently around her digits.

'_**Stand back!**_ Don't come any closer!' she said as an ominous aura formed around her fingers. It then engulfed her palms and crept up her arms like shadow snakes, a veil of darkness that threatened him. Itachi Uchiha stood before her, petrified and in awe. Miyeko's anger made the shadowy chakra hike further up her arms, creating an energy barrier that she soon used to form an angular knife that she held firmly with her right hand, making Itachi frowned inquisitively.

'Miyeko, your chakra… I can see it. _Incredible_.' But she wouldn't hear any of his words.

'And if you don't keep your distance, you'll be able to _feel_ it. Don't make me hurt you. I must do what I must to protect my home.' she said as heavy tears rolled down her cheeks. Harsh hiccups escaped her lips as she silently sobbed before him.

'And I'm ready to do _anything_.' she continued. 'I have nothing to lose. I've already lost everything. My family is rotting in the ground, there's nothing left for me to hold out for. The only thing I have left is my home… and _you_.' Her voice trailed off in the sounds of the lush woods.

Itachi sighed heavily as he asked himself if he could find the right words to say everything that plagued his heavy heart for months now, for years.

'Miyeko, please. Don't do this. There is still time.' he said, his heart beating faster and faster.

Miyeko's harsh sobs hurt him deep inside. The warm tears of sorrow that decorated her face were a sight he wished he'd never witness again.

Sorrowful green eyes met his. 'I hoped it wasn't true, what Danzo told me.' she said blankly, salty tears rolling down her neck. 'I hoped he was lying, that he was under a false impression and that they would call my mission off.'

Itachi could only look at her as she begged.

'Please, Itachi. Tell me it isn't so. Tell me they are lying. Tell me the Uchiha clan is not planning a coup and this is just a horrible nightmare. Tell me they're not planning to destroy our home. Please, I beg of you.' she asked, her voice strained by sobs. But Itachi kept kneeling before her, silent. There was no answer from him, only a solemn yet sad expression on his pale face as he lowered his gaze to the lush ground in shame. That was the only truth Miyeko needed from him.

His silence was his answer.

She growled in frustration, her chakra flaring across her entire body. Disappointment and disgust decorated her pale face as sobs shook her entire body, her shadowy chakra materializing on her skin. This was the sight that made grown men scared of her abilities.

Before him stood the girl that had crawled under his skin for so long now.

Before him stood something inexplicable that even he couldn't understand.

Before him stood Konoha's Shinigami, the heir to the Nagaki clan's bloodline limit... and his redemption.

But Itachi Uchiha had to stay calm._ No matter the outcome of this conversation, I must know…_ he thought. His long black bangs covered his brow as he looked up to Miyeko Nagaki, whose dark chakra was dangerously covering her body as if she was growing an energy armor to protect herself from the pain she was feeling. It was as if it was the only protection she had left from this angry, ugly world.

'I'll repeat my question for the last time, Miyeko. Did you agree to it? Did you agree to spy on my family for Danzo and the village?' he asked again. Miyeko's face hardened. The truth dangled on her tongue. She felt the bile coat her mouth, but there was no point in hiding it now.

_Because Itachi Uchiha already knew the truth._

'Yes.' She inhaled deeply. To this moment, the pain of that revelation felt still so real to Miyeko.

She had awaited a reaction from the young Uchiha clansman. She feared his resentment. But it never came. Itachi Uchiha's onyx eyes gazed into her green ones with no apparent anger plaguing him. He was serene, almost relieved. It was the kind of quietness that unnerved her, that made her fear the worst. There was no anger, no frustration, no sense of betrayal, no treachery in his eyes. Only a quiet determination. And that was the most frightening thing of all.

Itachi Uchiha slowly rose to his feet and walked towards her, shortening the distance between his body and hers. Miyeko Nagaki knew that Itachi was a shinobi and that mastery of his emotions was a skill he acquired fairly early on in his life, something she still had great difficulty with. His blood didn't boil as hers did. He could stay calm amidst the darkest and scariest of situations, something she always greatly admired him for. But now he was walking towards her and she knew he wouldn't hesitate to kill her.

He was a shinobi and shinobi only bring death.

The silence between them was deafening. His footsteps grew closer. And so was the moment of her end.

_Dying by his hand is a better death than I deserve,_ she thought.

The footsteps had stopped. He stood there, inches away from her, his breathing steady, his hands slowly reaching upwards towards her. She closed her eyes tighter, ashamed of her cowardness and fear before her imminent death. It was inevitable. Images of her sister and her parents suddenly crowded her mind. Miyeko was grateful for that one last thought. It reassured her, even inches away from the precipice, the shadows of the end. When she felt his hands reach past her shoulders, she swallowed and exhaled one last time before she felt him grab her.

But there was no pain. There was no pain at all.

Only a warm embrace. Only the warmth of his touch. Only life.

There, shaken, Miyeko stood still in his arms, her head resting on his shoulder with her eyes wide open. He had pulled her strongly in his arms, his hands firmly gripping at her skin, her chest pressed against his as his hair tickled her nose innocently. Her whole body was trembling against him and he pulled her closer still. She could feel the pounding of his heart on her skin, through her.

'Itachi, what are you-'

'I'm so sorry. I'm so, _so_ sorry.' he whispered in her ear. 'It's all my fault.' he continued, his still voice now shaking as he tried to hold in his sadness.

'I didn't manage to convince them of my loyalty. It wasn't enough. It was never going to be enough for them. I'm sorry. _It's all my fault._' he whispered. Miyeko blinked and looked at him, confused and in disbelief. She grabbed his face in her hands and saw his once warm onyx eyes glistening with budding tears. She held his face gently and brushed his silky black hair away from his face, the kindness of her touch making his lower lip tremble.

'I don't understand.' she said, still in shock. Itachi felt the strength of his body fail him. But the touch of hers on his skin gave him the courage he needed to look at her in the eyes once again.

'I know of your mission and the pain you feel… because they asked the same of me.' he replied.

Miyeko gasped, shaking her head in disbelief.

'No…_ No_. Itachi. This can't be.' she whispered, shock covering her face. Her pale face became paler with horror. '**How could they?**' she then asked him, her voice sorrowful and quiet. 'How could they ask _you_? This is your family. How could they have asked that of you?' she repeated, only highlighting the cruelty of the situation. Her heart broke for him. How terrible she felt for him as she held him in her arms.

Itachi gently grabbed Miyeko's waist and pulled her against him once again as he buried his face in her hair. She could feel his warm breath against the delicate skin of her neck, his fingers tracing soothing patterns on her back. Their hearts were beating quickly in their chests, amplifying their proximity to one another. She could feel his very soul beneath his touch, in the warmth of his eyes. She grabbed his face once again and pressed her forehead against his caringly, as he did back there, back where the curtain had fallen on their mutual deceit.

She couldn't be angry anymore.

How could she? How could she resent him, the only person that knew of this pain she felt?

Shame plagued her. She embraced him in return, her chest heavy.

'I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm here.' she said. 'I'm here, now.' she comforted him. 'I'm sorry Itachi. I should not have tried to hide the truth from you. I'm so ashamed of even agreeing to take on this assignment. I _can't-_' She wiped the tears that rolled down her neck again. That's when Itachi met her gaze.

Hurt.

'I'm the one who's ashamed.' he said, slowly regaining his composure. The steadiness of his voice came back and he held Miyeko ever so closer to his body. 'It is my clan that is plotting against the village and its people. And for so long I ignored it, pushed the rumors away, pretended what was happening didn't exist, that it was all going to be resolved on its own like it always had in the past. I couldn't see past the darkness. And now, look at what my carelessness has done…' he said, cupping her face slowly.

'It's my fault you are brought into this. You hurt because of me.' His words cut deeply.

Miyeko met his eyes again but this time, the pain she thought she would find in his onyx orbs left a burning sentiment of resolution. Beneath his heavy dark eyelashes, she found in the depth of this gaze an angry curiosity.

'What did Danzo tell you about… everything?' he asked.

Miyeko Nagaki swallowed harshly and scanned the area with her chakra, feeling out the forest for any human presence that could eavesdrop on their conversation. She felt with her energy the trees and the thick bushes of budding green leaves but felt no foreign chakra source near them.

They were truly alone.

She sighed. 'Itachi, are you sure you want me to-'

'This is important, Miyeko. What you say now will determine our next course of action. Please, try to remember his words.' he asked, his voice low and unwavering. Miyeko looked at the ground.

'He told me that the only reason I was let in the village again was that he needed me for something. That I would play a very intimate part of the village's protection against a budding evil that exists within the walls.' she said, scanning Itachi's face for signs of discomfort. But she found none. He was focused. His attention was solely on her and her words. Miyeko cleared her throat. She felt uncomfortable, her mouth was dry and her heart was beating very fast.

He was still holding her close to him, their bodies supporting one another.

'He… He said things about the history of the Uchiha clan, Itachi, and asked me if I truly knew everything about you and your clan. He told me the Uchiha was possessed by a primal evil that came from your Sharingan.' she started. Itachi looked at her with no emotion in his eyes. She had rarely seen him so focused, so immobile. She groaned, uncomfortable. 'And then he said that your clan was planning a coup and that he needed intel from your clansmen's movements that would indicate the preparation of the coup.'

Itachi remained silent.

Miyeko could see that he was assimilating what she said to him, taking in every single word she uttered. 'He… He said that the Uchiha would rebel and countless civilians and shinobi of our village would die because of the coup and that- that the Uchiha would have to be annihilated. Every single member of your clan. That it was the only way for the village to be safe once again.' she said. Tears rolled down her cheeks once again at the sight of Itachi's sudden pained expression.

'_Annihilated?' _he asked slowly, a frown of anger and sorrow drew on his face. Miyeko's face became pale. She felt she was about to be sick.

'You… They didn't tell you… about _that?_' she asked, her voice veiled with pity. She could see Itachi balling his fists nervously, his knuckles becoming white with growing tension. She had never seen him so distraught. He closed his eyes, his lips thin with resentment.

'Go on.' he simply said, no,_ commanded_. Miyeko inhaled sharply.

'Itachi, we don't have to-'

'I need to know everything, Miyeko. **Now.**' he said. He was resolute and she had never heard him so stern-looking, his voice so commanding. Miyeko had no choice but to oblige him.

'He told me the Hokage, the ANBU and elders knew about the clan's plot for a coup and had known for quite some time now. He then told me that I had been selected to spy on the Uchiha clan because I already had a way in the clan and that… that…' But she stopped, embarrassed.

Itachi looked deep into her eyes, his onyx orbs meeting her green ones. _'**Tell me'**_.

She swallowed dryly. 'He said that it would be easier for me- it would be easier for me because I had direct access to the most reliable source of intel within the clan. You.'

His face had gone livid. He, Itachi Uchiha of the Hidden Leaf village, faithful servant of the Hokage and shinobi, devoted to his village's protection and its citizens, had been deceived by the very people who had sworn to protect his home, his people. He knew of his clan's treachery and knew that they would someday be reprimanded for their crime and he had been told that indeed, they would be but no more. They told him that diplomacy would be their course of action. Instead, they had chosen the snake's way out. They had _lied_ to him. They had** deceived** him.

And now he was going to do the same in return to try to save his clan and his village. He would bring hope to Konoha again. He would thwart their plan of using Miyeko Nagaki against him and bring another solution to the table to resolve this conflict and to save his clan. He would try everything to save the ones he loved from the ones he'd sworn to protect. That was his mission now, his reason to push forward with life, his sole goal.

And_ her_. He would save her too. And he swore silently to never make her cry again.

He looked at Miyeko Nagaki lovingly, unable to form thoughts, submerged by her beauty. With one look, his anger had transformed into determination. And he kissed her deeply. In her confusion and shock, she didn't return the kiss immediately, but his tongue swirling against hers brought her back to her senses, his hands lowering to her lower back, pushing her closer to him. Her moans gave him a renewed courage to hold her closer to him, closer to his heart as she let herself melt in his arms, her chest pressed against him. He needed more, _so much more_. He needed her entirely for his own, his hands squeezing the soft skin of her bosom, letting the feeling of her plump chest on him overcoming his senses, her perfume numbing his senses.

'Itachi, I-I…' she tried to voice out, but his kiss became insistent, the lust in it rendering her unable to formulate words. He smiled at her and sighed, having finally found the words to say to her what he'd been keeping for himself for so long.

'You're my weakness. You've always been my weakness and they tried to use that to their advantage. But they miscalculated because… You're also my anchor, my strength. And I'll never let go.' His words made her smile, the uncertainty in her heart completely dissipated. Her dark chakra had vanished. He saw forgiveness in her eyes. And, at that moment, she understood him completely.

In the growing dusk, they kissed deeply, basking in the other's passion.

And his words echoed in their lonesome.

'We can do this together.'


	16. There Will Be Blood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys!
> 
> Sorry if this one took longer to write, a new job, a pandemic... Times are hard, yo.
> 
> Also, this chapter makes me a little nervous because the E rating really applies for the rest of this story and because I usually never write smut lol. But I assure you, this is smut with a plot. 
> 
> If this makes you uncomfortable, I would insist you do not pursue reading this story as the violence and the sexual content will only be more and more present.
> 
> Thank you for your support.

> Every strong man has a weak point.

Fugaku stood by the window of his estate, looking in the distance passively. He couldn’t help but think of the change in his son since the Nagaki girl came back to the village and into their lives again. For years, Fugaku saw his eldest son, the pride of the Uchiha clan slowly wither away, crippled by depression and anxiety. Fugaku feared for the worst when Itachi Uchiha had stopped eating regularly and slept even more rarely. Fugaku Uchiha was a proud man and for a long time, he refused to admit that the depth of Itachi’s pain was caused by the internal feud that raged on within the village, within his own clan. For weeks, no, for years now, Fugaku Uchiha and the higher-ranked members of his clan planned to retake what he deemed was ancestral and god-given Uchiha rights within the Village. 

For decades, his clan has been slowly stripped of their liberties, their freedoms, and their land had been continuously taunted into frustration by the village elders and leaders, and ever since the Nine-Tailed Fox attack on Konoha… the Uchiha clan had been relocated to the outskirts of the village, been pushed away from any position of power within the village’s government and their reputation had been permanently soiled by ANBU, who kept a close and watchful eye on all Uchiha clansmen, from the very elderly to the youngest of children. And that had been the last straw for Fugaku Uchiha and his clan and the shame and humiliation that the ANBU and the village leaders had brought to his family, to his friends, to his kin… 

‘Enough.’ muttered Fugaku, crossing his arms over his chest, his knuckles white with anger. ‘We will not stand for this any longer.’

‘Dear, have they come back yet?’ he heard Mikoto Uchiha call out gently behind him as she placed a warm hand on his shoulder. Fugaku sighed, his eyes narrowing as he looked into the distance again, searching for any visual cue of his son and his Nagaki companion. 

‘No. And it’s getting late. I wonder where they have gone. And _ what _ they talked about.’

Miyeko smiled. ‘From the way they look at one another, I’d bet they didn’t _ say _ much at all…’

Fugaku grunted. ‘That’s not what I meant by that.’

Mikoto closed her eyes and exhaled loudly.

‘Do you think that Itachi will talk-’

‘Itachi, _ my son_, will remain loyal to me and to his clan. He is a young man of honor, Mikoto. He would _never _betray my trust. He is loyal to our cause. And I have in mind for him to bring her into the fold as well.’ Silence fell between the two Uchiha clansmen, Mikoto’s frown growing deeper.

‘Fugaku, you can’t possibly-!’ she said, grabbing his arm. 

‘You know of her powers, Mikoto. _ Everyone _within the Uchiha clan and the government who witnessed her powers on that day when her family was murdered _know _of her curse. That bloodbath my men and I investigated upon that terrible day, the way the mangled and torn bodies of her family’s murderers lay lifelessly on the ground… How there was no mercy, just fury… As much as the depth of her powers would frighten most, I think we could use them for our gains.’ He said, taking a small pause. ‘To possess the Sharingan and the power of shadows of Konoha’s Shinigami of the Nagaki clan… They would have **no choice **but to respect us. And then, very soon on _our _fateful day, the Uchiha will reclaim their rightful leading position within the village. The ultimate seat of power… And we would then have _everything. _’

Fugaku Uchiha’s reverie of plotting made Mikoto’s eyes water with sadness. Her soft sniffles brought him back to reality and he turned around and placed his large hands on her shoulders. Few things in life made the imposing Fugaku Uchiha, head of the Uchiha clan, weak in the knees for all the wrong reasons. And one of them was the sight of his wife crying. His stern expression softened at the sight of the warm tears rolling down her cheeks. 

‘You know what we have to do, Mikoto. You have known since the beginning that things must change.’ he said in a soft voice. She was now inconsolable, sobbing against her husband’s chest.

‘They’re just kids, Fugaku. They’re just kids… Do they have to be involved? Their lives are so harsh and cruel already… Fugaku does Itachi have to-’

‘_ Mikoto. _ ’ he said abruptly. ‘How do you like to live as an outcast in your village, in your own home?’ he asked seriously. His tone of voice had changed completely and made his wife shiver with anxiety. ‘How do you like to be kept under close surveillance, day and night, being watched constantly as you do your family’s grocery shopping, as you plant your flowers in our garden, as you walk Sasuke, our youngest son to the Academy in the morning? Do you _like _our lives? Do you _like _that the Uchiha name has now fallen into derision? Do you like how they disrespect our ancestry, our culture, our lifestyle and how the history and the prestige of the Uchiha clan have slowly withered to nothing in the eyes of the citizens of this village and in the minds of our enemies outside of our home? _ Do you want this life for our kids? _’ he said, his onyx eyes now red with the power of the Sharingan. Mikoto had never seen him so serious. 

His Sharingan shone brilliantly into the night as he looked at his wife, the woman who supported him through hard times, through his every endeavor and dream, and he saw the sadness in her eyes.

‘No, I don’t want this for our kids. I don’t want this for our clan, for our friends, Fugaku. But… Why did you have to involve Itachi? This whole thing… all this hatred… we are responsible for his unhappiness, Fugaku. You know as well as I do that this weight on his shoulders, the survival of his clan, and the pressure of being your son, _ our _son… It almost destroyed him. And now that he's found- no, that he’s reunited with the light in this life… Honey, she can’t be involved. If something happens to her... If _anything _happens to her… we’ll lose him. We can’t lose him, Fugaku. I refuse to lose him.’

In the dead of the night, Fugaku exhaled slowly, taking in fully his wife’s worries and it weighed gravely on his shoulders. He took Mikoto in his arms, her head resting on his chest.

‘There is no going back, Mikoto. The coup is in motion, nothing can stop us now. Itachi has already agreed to support our cause. He is the pride of our clan, he is its future. He must play a major role in the rebirth of the Uchiha within the village as my son and as my heir. And as for Miyeko Nagaki…’ he said, his tone now low and severe. ‘She will be his motivation to fulfill his promises to me, to his family, and his clan. She will ensure his loyalty to the Uchiha clan.’

He took another breath, Mikoto’s still pressed against his chest. ‘Or she’ll be collateral damage. And it all depends on our son’s commitment, Mikoto. I’ll make sure he understands just how important his involvement is. For our sake, but _hers _ too.’

In the shadows of the night, as his wife climbed the stairs to go to bed, Fugaku stayed still by the window, gazing into the night sky, his Mangekyou Sharingan activated for only himself to see through the window’s reflection. And his ruby red irises gleamed with hatred for the ANBU, for the elders and for the fox hiding in the shadows named Danzo Shimura, Konoha’s Darkness.

* * *

Itachi and Miyeko had left the Uchiha compound’s meadow at nightfall and he insisted on walking her home. As they walked out of the forest clearing, Miyeko smiled shyly at the young Uchiha clansman and quickly looked away from him with a blush on her face, her snowy strand of hair delicately brushing her cheek.

‘It’s quite alright, Itachi. You don’t have to walk me home, I know the way. I won’t get lost, I promise.’ she said, but Itachi shook his head, refusing to hear more.

‘I know you know the way, Miyeko. That’s not the point. I just don’t feel comfortable letting you walk alone at night when it’s dark. Not in our position right now...’ he replied, ever so slightly walking closer to her, his leg almost brushing hers. He then heard her giggle and she placed a pale hand to her mouth, her green eyes illuminated with the soft light of the moon. The sound of her soft chuckles filled the crisp night air and warmed him inside.

‘Are you _worried _about me, Itachi? I can assure you that I can walk home safely, even at night.’ she said in between chuckles. ‘I am known as Konoha’s Shinigami. I’d be a pretty terrible folkloric demon if I was afraid of the dark.’ she said, the slightly mocking tone in her voice making him smile.

‘I told you before. To me, you are Miyeko Nagaki.’ he said, poking her forehead. ‘You don’t have to do things alone anymore, I’m here.’ he continued as his fingers lingered on the skin of her forehead, gently rubbing her brow. ‘Also, yes, I happen to be quite worried when it comes to you. You can’t walk two steps without getting into trouble. You can be so reckless. And with the ANBU onto us, we have to be vigilant at all times. Even when we’re together, we have to stay alert.’ he said, his tone now graver. Miyeko sighed and she stopped in her tracks, Itachi turning around to find a determined expression on her face.

‘You’re right.’ she said, putting a warm hand on his arm. ‘Itachi, I’ll do anything in my power to keep you safe. I promise. I will do anything to protect you and your family.’ she said to him, her green eyes meeting his. He placed a warm hand on her cheek and sighed heavily, his onyx eyes gazing down upon her.

‘The last thing I want is for you to be involved in my clan’s bloody affairs. The farther away you stay from this mess, the better it will be for now… The thought of you getting hurt because of me and my foolish clan…’ he said, his voice slowly diving as his eyes looked at the ground, full of sorrow. 

Miyeko closed her eyes and sensed his fears with her energy. She could sense his anxiety, his terrible thoughts, and his pain. It had been years since she’s soothed anyone with her energy, but Itachi Uchiha was standing before her, restless and so she used the pathways of natural energy around her to reach out to Itachi and to reach his own chakra with her own, the calmness in her breath and in her mind immediately creating a reaction within the Uchiha clansmen, who raised a curious eyebrow at her energy ministrations. The connection between their energies came to a sudden halt when Itachi intentionally blocked his chakra pathways and he looked at her with a puzzled expression on his face.

‘What… What did you do to me?’ he asked. 

‘I can see the anguish in your eyes, Itachi. I’ve just wanted you to not worry so much…’

‘Was that _your _chakra that flowed within me?’ he asked incredulously. She nodded. 

‘What a peculiar sensation. It felt warm.’ he said, smirking. ‘Can you…’ he started, his face slowly getting closer to hers. ‘Can you try it again?’ he asked, his entire body now getting closer to her. She looked down at the ground for a second, but then slowly raised her eyes and smiled at him. 

‘Give me your hands. Touch makes it easier for me to… connect.’ she said, holding her fingers out to him. He slowly interlaced his fingers with hers and looked to her again, her eyes half-closed from the feeling of comfort that his touch created between the two of them. As they stood in front of the other, Miyeko could feel his heartbeat faster and noticed the small smile drawn on his lips. 

‘What now?’ he asked, his voice as soft as velvet. 

She chuckled. ‘Let me concentrate.’ she whispered to him with a playful smile, her soft words making his smile grow ever so wider.

‘You are easily distracted, Miyeko Nagaki.’ he replied, also sporting a perky smirk on his lips.

She let herself close her eyes again and inhaled deeply, reaching out to him with her strong chakra as she connected with him once again, the natural energy around them helping her bridge the two of them on an entirely different level, something they had never tried before. This time, it felt overwhelming to Miyeko as she let his chakra blend with hers through this rare connection of natural energy release she created and it made her heart beat faster, the sudden rush of his chakra tickling hers bringing heat to her cheeks. Itachi looked at her as he saw her reaction to this new feeling that made her skin flush with subtle pink hues and he was tempted to touch her now slightly parted lips with his own. But he couldn’t bring himself to move, only to observe as she unraveled before him and momentarily lost herself in this drunken feeling that was this new connection they created for each other. 

All Miyeko could feel now was an overpowering heat that emanated from their intertwined fingers that climbed up their arms and spread throughout their bodies. He was pure warmth to Miyeko and when she looked deeper into her spiritual energy to probe his chakra more intimately, she decided to let the barriers of hers come down and let his chakra caress her senses entirely. She let out a soft moan and felt her head become light. She tried to focus on her energy but this was so overwhelming that she had no choice but to float in it like she would in a deep ocean. She could now physically feel his essence on her and it felt like silk against her skin. The stars as her witness, she let herself get lost in what he emanated, filling her senses. 

‘Itachi… You’re so warm. Your energy… it’s so radiant and soothing.’ she said to him as he caught her to her. ‘It’s like you are the sun.’ she continued. Itachi raised a curious eyebrow, noticing just how Miyeko could be so aware of her surroundings ever with her eyes closed. He knew she was an adept sensory type shinobi, but just how much could she perceive? What could she see with her eyes closed that no one else could? He blushed at her statement. 

‘You can feel… my energy?’ he replied, more and more curious of her strange sensory powers, his hands not letting go of hers. 

‘Not just your energy, Itachi.’ she said, softly opening her eyes to meet his onyx ones. ‘I can feel your breathing, I can feel your emotions through your chakra, I can feel all that surrounds you, all that you are.’ she said. ‘I would know your energy signature from a mile away. You are so unique to me.’

Itachi Uchiha stopped walking, suddenly aware that his heart was pounding in his chest. He stood before her, amazed. How could she feel all of this with only a single touch of their hands? How was she able to manage such a feat? Itachi Uchiha had never underestimated Miyeko Nagaki before but he had just realized that perhaps, she was even more skilled than he thought. And to think that she could do this to people when she was only just a child… 

‘I knew I could do this with my chakra even before I knew what natural release was, but now that I can put words on this ability… It makes so much more sense now, Itachi. You’re not the only one who can see past what others don’t.’ she said, her eyes now open as she gently pulled away from him, her chakra returning to normal. Itachi Uchiha looked adoringly at her and marveled at this green-eyed girl who so extraordinarily made his life worth living again. He ran his fingers across her cheek, gently pushing away the stray away stand of snowy-white hair that seemed to always find a way to rebel itself out of her intricate braid. With a soft sigh, she stepped forward and embraced him, resting her head on his chest, feeling the weight of the world coming off her shoulders.

‘Thank you for being there for me, Itachi.’ she said, her hands finding their way to his lower back, caressing his skin over his shirt, her breathing calm and quiet. ‘Whatever happens, wherever we end up, I don’t ever want to lose you again.’ she said, her voice slightly shaky with emotion. ‘We’ll find a solution to this mess, I promise.’ Her words touched Itachi’s heart and instinctively, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer to him, his head resting onto hers. 

At that moment, Itachi Uchiha knew he wanted her to be part of his life forever. He remembered Shisui’s words from years ago and his voice echoed in his mind. ‘_ I must have a plan for what I want to do for the rest of my life. And that plan includes her. I can’t see my future without her.’ _ Itachi Uchiha understood the depth of his older cousin’s words when he spoke of Kuri Nagaki, the white-haired ANBU squad leader, and Miyeko’s older sister when he had said those words to Itachi. Itachi chuckled. He had been too young to truly understand the meaning behind what Shisui said, but now that he had Miyeko in his arms after all this time apart, after all the things they have gone through together, after years of friendship and complicity, he finally realized what these words meant to him. They meant that he couldn’t see his future, the rest of his life without the sight of her smile. He closed his eyes and let himself be cradled by the energy that ever so complimented his own, his body relaxing with hers as they shared a caring embrace. 

He had not chosen this life for himself. _ Nobody would choose this kind of life if they knew what it truly entailed_, he thought.

But after this, if they were still alive and well after all of this bloody ordeal, Itachi Uchiha decided to make the choice for himself that would make him able to share his life with the woman he held tightly in her arms the way he wanted to. He would quit being a shinobi and live as an ordinary man, with ordinary goals with this extraordinary woman. Itachi’s heart swelled with joy at the idea of spending every waking moment with Miyeko Nagaki and growing grey hairs with her, enjoying their time together in the sun and sharing a frozen treat, just like in the vision he had years ago when he first awakened his Sharingan. He had thought of why he had awakened this skill on that day and why he saw these images of himself and Miyeko and now that she was safe in his arms again, he realized exactly just why. 

_ She is the reason why the Sharingan came to me_, he thought. She was the reason he had the power and the skills he had and what motivated him to push himself to be a better man and a better shinobi. His Sharingan has awoken for him to protect her from harm. He had honed his skill in order for him to shield her from others who would harm her. All of this happened because Itachi’s destiny had been linked to hers on that day when he was but a mere boy and he sat next to her at the Academy when his gaze first met hers.

Itachi Uchiha was not a man of faith. He was not a believer in supernatural powers orchestrating the world around him. But he knew that, deep down, she was meant to find her way in his arms and he was meant to hold her against him and that’s all he needed to know.

She was his fate. And he was hers. 

He took in a breath, his mind suddenly thinking of the three special words he wanted to whisper to her, but nothing came out. _ Coward_, he thought. _ You can’t even tell her how you feel about her. _A loud sigh escaped his lips. He knew exactly what he had wanted to say, but somehow he felt that saying something, anything during this special moment they shared would not do them justice. 

_ One day. One day I’ll be able to let you know. _He then let go of her hands and poked her forehead gently, his chuckle soft and deep. 

‘Let’s get you home, Miyeko.’ 

With that, they walked towards the central part of Konoha, the stars the only witness to their midnight whispers, giggles, and laughter.

A perfect spring night amidst dwelling chaos and fury.

The walk to her apartment was peaceful, silent, and comfortable, filled with sights and sounds of the village. Itachi Uchiha’s eyes were on her the entire time they walked alongside each other as her face was lit by the village’s center town lights. He couldn’t help but admire her intricate hairstyle as he briskly walked next to her, the tresses she braided shining in the light of the night, her single white strand of hair still refusing to be tamed and flowing flee in the wind. The street they followed was decorated with tall trees that grew new green buds on their branches, officially announcing the arrival of spring in the village. The faint scent of fresh flowers filled Miyeko’s senses and she closed her eyes, letting their fragrance wash over her. On Mount Myoboku, there were no flowers or tall trees, only swamps, rivers, and toads. She had missed her home, her village. She had missed the spring night’s wind on her skin and the sound of children’s laughter in the streets. 

Miyeko looked around, her eyes wide with excitement, rapt in wonder at the sights, sounds and smells of the shops, small restaurants and tea shops like it was the first time she’d ever seen Konoha. Even at night, the village was buzzing with activity and it made her smile to see her home so peaceful. Itachi simply couldn’t help himself. He could not take his eyes away from her delicate face. Itachi Uchiha did not care for anything else than to be in her presence at that moment. All the noises and movements of the village around him slowed around him as she turned her head and smiled at him, gently holding his arm. 

Itachi Uchiha sighed and smiled back in return, letting her enjoy this euphoric sense of nostalgia. She needed to see this, he thought. She needed to see that there was still good within the walls of the village and that ultimately, they truly had something worth fighting for. Miyeko and Itachi had never needed words to communicate with one another. A simple brush of his arm against hers was enough for Miyeko to understand what Itachi would not convey with words. She held his arm until they reached the front of her apartment building and she turned around to face him with a soft gaze.

‘Thank you for walking me home, Itachi.’ she said, stopping right before walking up the complex’s stairs. ‘That was very thoughtful of you.’ Itachi smiled sheepishly, his onyx eyes gleaming with playfulness. 

‘Don’t thank me yet, Miyeko. The steps here can be dangerously slippery.’ he said, looking at the tall flight of stairs leading to Miyeko’s apartment, his grin growing wider. ‘It wouldn’t be gallant of me to not walk you up the stairs and make sure you step inside your home safely.’

Miyeko blinked for a second and burst out laughing. ‘Oh, Itachi.’ she said, unable to contain her giggling. ‘Aren’t you a slick charmer.’ she said in between giggles, making fun of him at his expense. Itachi Uchiha’s smile couldn’t be any brighter knowing he’d made her laugh.

‘I usually am more subtle, it’s true.’ he admitted, rubbing the back of his head, a little embarrassed. ‘I guess we can’t all be smooth-tongued like Shisui.’ he concluded as she pulled him closer to her again, her jolly green eyes meeting his gaze.

‘And I’m thankful for it because that means I get to be with _you _.’ she said, ever so slightly pushing away his soft black locks of hair away from his face, her fingertips grazing his skin. 

‘I guess this is goodnight, Itachi.’ she said, quickly placing her lips on his, Itachi taking full advantage of this opportunity to return the kiss more fervently, still dazzled by the feeling of her lips on his. For a moment, Miyeko Nagaki forgot the horrible reality she was in. She forgot the terrible mission she was assigned, the betrayal of Itachi Uchiha’s family, the blood she would have to spill for the safety of the village. For a moment, only the feeling of safety and trust existed between her and Itachi. For a moment, there was only them. 

** _But these moments of simplicity never lasted. _ **

Miyeko’s heart skipped a beat when her senses caught the presence of an unknown man, crouched on a tree branch two hundred yards southwest of their position. Miyeko abruptly broke off the kiss, her green eyes meeting his onyx ones. Anxiety was written all across her face. 

‘Someone’s watching us.’ she warned him very quietly. Itachi closed his eyes and when he reopened them, Miyeko was faced with his crimson Sharingan.

‘Is he alone?’ he asked. ‘ANBU.’ he realized.

Miyeko nodded. ‘Yes.’ She then frowned, determined.

‘Do you trust me?’ she whispered to him, Itachi quickly nodding. ‘I trust you with my life.’

Miyeko exhaled sharply before pulling Itachi’s shirt and her lips crashing on his with an intensity that they had both never felt before, her tongue swirling around his with a renewed fire of passion that swept Itachi off his feet, his hands quickly traveling to her hips, pulling her close against him, her hands resting on the nape of his neck as she grinded her hips against him. He moaned in her mouth, letting her slowly consume him, her chest pressed against his. 

‘Oh, Itachi. I want you. I changed my mind, come up with me.’ she said breathlessly, her mouth traveling to his neck, gently sucking on his skin that made the rest of his body shiver with anticipation and pleasure, a groan escaping his lips. His hands slowly moved from her hips to her sides, his fingers finding their way to her chest, cupping her breasts over her shirt, making Miyeko gasp in bliss.

‘Please, Itachi. Upstairs.’ she managed to say between their kisses, Itachi finally finding the will to slowly pull away from her, letting her guide him up the stairs to her apartment in a hurry, her hand in his as he followed, driven by the sheer intensity of their passion. When they reached her door she quickly unlocked it, her breathing labored as Itachi sucked on her neck, gently pulling her braid, his arousal pressing on her bosom. She moaned, her hands shaking as the lock came undone, the two teenagers pushing themselves inside with heavy breath, their mouths finding their way again. Itachi’s hands reached for her breasts again, massaging them over her clothes.

‘So beautiful…’ he whispered as she looked at him with lids half-closed, her energy reaching out to the position of where the man hidden in the shadows was, his presence now gone. She sighed, letting Itachi kiss her passionately again before looking deep into her eyes, his Sharingan hypnotizing her, pushing her further in this haze of pleasure she found herself in.

‘Miyeko… Can I…?’ he started, Miyeko smiling back to him. She knew she had to instigate this sudden passionate moment between the two of them and bring her and Itachi inside as a way to convince the suspect investigating her from a distance of her loyalty to ANBU and to Danzo. A cold shiver ran down her spine, the thought of ANBU agents peering into her _personal life _in order to report to Danzo Shimura made her feel uneasy. She knew deep down that this man, this leader of ANBU and member of the village Council had indeed sent one of his many agents to make sure she got on with her assignment- _ to make sure she focused on her mission and that she had no intention of betraying the village_. The spy was gone now, but her growing lust remained. She knew she had to play her part right and to assure Konoha of her allegiance in the plot to destroy the Uchiha but there was a part of her that _wanted _this, that craved this intimacy with Itachi Uchiha. And that part of her was overtaking her. 

‘Yes.’ she replied to him. Slowly, she removed her shirt, throwing it away further down her genkan hall, Itachi’s eyes never leaving hers. A blush appeared on her cheeks as she looked away, her hands slowly covering her face. 

‘I’m sorry.’ she whispered to him. ‘I’m not used to this.’ she continued.

Itachi’s hands cupped her face, his gaze gentle and kind. ‘I’ll follow your rhythm, Miyeko.’

Miyeko looked down and chuckled. ‘The only times I was naked before someone was because I had wounds that needed tending to. And I have scars...’ Itachi looked at her again and found himself reading between the lines of these words she had spoken. The only instances in her life Miyeko Nagaki had been completely exposed in front of people was because she had been hurt. He could see the memories of the pain she had to endure as a shinobi and Miyeko would never admit it to him, but the scars that decorated her skin all made her conscious of her looks and how people perceived her. 

She was now at her most vulnerable and could not meet his eye. Itachi sighed and kissed her forehead gently and pushed her snowy white strand of hair away from her face.

‘Miyeko, I’ll close my eyes. Would that make you more comfortable?’

She looked down again and shyly nodded. He chuckled softly and she smiled at him, her face flushed with a veil of pink as he closed his eyes. ‘Better?’

‘Yes.’

‘Miyeko, I want you to know...’ he whispered to her, his breath against her neck, teasing at the straps gently with the tips of his fingers, tickling her skin. He heard her soft giggles and felt a flutter at the pit of her stomach. He was utterly charmed by her, even with his eyes closed. 

‘Even when I’m unable to see… You are still the most beautiful person in the world to me.’

The feeling of her skin on his fingertips painted a clearer image of her beauty than any dream he’d ever dreamed of her. He gently pushed the straps off of her shoulders and heard the feminine garment fall to the ground. He did not need his eyes open to discover every inch of her. Itachi kissed her again, softer this time, feeling her growing trust with every kiss, with every gentle touch of his fingers across the skin of her neck, on her collarbone, on her shoulders. Miyeko could not believe the way his touch felt. His fingers created trails of fire across her skin and his kisses made her legs tremble in anticipation. 

His hands roamed lower, past her collarbone, drawing circles with his fingers across her alabaster skin until he reached her breasts, his kiss growing bolder. The goosebumps that ran on her skin that his touch caused made his passion burn ever so fervently inside of him. Miyeko moaned when he grabbed a handful of her mounds, gently massaging them, the palms of his hands pressed on her soft flesh and her hard nipples brushing against them. He loved the feeling of her hard, sensitive areolas against his hands. He groaned in delight at her reaction, his eyes still closed but his intentions still as sensual and deliberate. Long and sensual sighs escaped her lips as he fondled her, his hands melting against the warm flesh of her breasts. When she pressed her hips against his, Itachi broke the kiss and pressed his forehead against hers, grinding himself on her.

‘Am I hurting you?’ he asked. She shook her head, too deeply immersed in bliss. ‘No.’

‘Can I open my eyes now?’ 

‘Yes.’

With this one single word of consent, Itachi’s onyx eyes met her green orbs again and this time, he could see growing confidence in them. He kissed her again and nuzzled her nose, making her giggle, his hands reaching for her hips and bringing her closer to his core.

‘May I have a look at you?’ he asked. Again, she nodded. ‘I trust you.’ she replied to him.

Itachi smiled and glanced down, only to have his breath taken away, his heart skipping a beat. He blinked, his eyes wide.

She was truly beautiful. That made him blush in return.

Her breasts were round and full, her nipples hard and pink, truly a sight for sore eyes. Itachi Uchiha let out a long sigh, admiring her figure, his mind lost to the vision of her, this young woman that had shared so much of her life with him. The image of a blushing, half-naked Miyeko pressed against him and grinding herself on him made his pants grow tighter still and he reached for her alabaster mounds, her nipples now rolling between his indexes and thumbs, making Miyeko moan again. He placed his mouth to her ear and smirked, the arousal in his words making her tremble in excitement.

‘Miyeko, may I explore further?’

Miyeko Nagaki’s blush darkened into a shade of red, her emerald eyes growing wider. What did he mean by that? How far was she going to go with the Uchiha prodigy before the guilt would surface? Before she felt the sting of shame for letting herself enjoy this moment of pleasure with him? Before she would punish herself for using her damned assignment to take advantage of him in this way?

‘What’s wrong?’ he asked, worried.

She swallowed hard, wary of how he would react to her feelings. ‘I feel guilty.’ she voiced out, her eyes dropping to the floor, tears forming in the corners of her emerald orbs. ‘I feel like I’m using you to complete my assignment for ANBU. I don’t want you to think that I’m- that _ we’re _ doing this because it is my duty to do so.’ Itachi frowned and took her in his arms, enlacing them around her waist.

‘You’re not taking advantage of me, Miyeko. I told you before.’ he said, rubbing her back. ‘We’re in this together. I know there will be moments when you will do things on your end to protect this village and if you have to use me to do so, then so be it. But this is _not _one of those moments. This is a moment of our own, it has _nothing _to do with them. Nothing.’

His words consoled her and she kissed him again and smiled sheepishly against his lips, still nervous. 

‘So what did you have in mind, Itachi Uchiha?’ 

Miyeko saw the light in his eye change to a sparkle of deep, unadulterated lust, a look she thought a few weeks ago she would never see. A look just for her, only her. It made her heart beat faster in her chest. Her thoughts were driven wild when she felt his arousal press against her again, his soft moan caressing her ears like velvet. He bit her earlobe and brushed his lips against her ear, the humming in his voice resonating throughout her body.

_'To see you come undone as you say my name.'_

His words made her heart stop. Her cheeks burned at the sight of his deep crimson Sharingan looking deep into her soul. There was so much emotion that flowed through him and his energy that she suddenly felt overwhelmed, her breath caught in her throat. And then she saw his smile.

‘...When you are ready, Miyeko.’ he said, kissing her one last time before he reached for a blanket in her front closet, covering her shoulders as she looked at him puzzled, still finding herself in the vapes of their passion. But then, it made sense to her.

Itachi Uchiha was a gentle and patient man.

She knew that he had seen the doubt within herself, in her mind. And he would never hurt her. He had vowed to himself and he meant it. Miyeko sighed and hugged him, letting her head fall on his shoulder.

‘Thank you, Itachi.’ Itachi kissed her forehead and looked down to meet her gaze again.

‘Please rest tonight, Miyeko. Don’t act rashly.’ he said, brushing his fingers through her hair. She laughed softly.

‘I can’t make any promises. Will I see you tomorrow?’ she asked, earning an earnest smile from the Uchiha prodigy. His onyx eyes made her return this affection.

‘Of course. You can’t get rid of me that easily, Miyeko Nagaki. Good night.’ 

Itachi walked away, closing her door behind him, leaving her feeling wanted and longing in her genkan once again, alone and prey to her thoughts, pleasure morphing into seething anger that boiled her blood and that haunted her mind.

* * *

Before long, Miyeko Nagaki had dressed into her black Jonin uniform, her long hair loose from the braid she had sported earlier. She inhaled deeply as he looked at her reflection in the mirror of her vanity, looking straight at herself, bare for her own self to see who she had become.

A shinobi. 

A warrior. 

A pawn in a game of blood and secrets. 

A key player in an internal war.

And now a woman who had been compromised by everyone around her.

The reflection she saw of herself looked straight back at her with sharp green eyes, a shadowy aura enveloping her body, caressing her figure as it formed a barrier around her that was fueled by her anger. The woman looking back at her was a weapon like so many liked to remind her. She exhaled slowly, the darkness around her giving her the focus and the drive she needed to put her plan in motion. 

It was like Itachi said, she thought. There were moments that would push her to do things to protect her village.

Finding that spy that tailed her for Danzo Shimura of ANBU and that was threatening her safety and Itachi’s was definitely one of those moments. 

The _things _she would do to protect him could not be described into words.

Once again, the Shinigami of Konoha was on the prowl, lurking in the shadows of the night hunting for a faceless man that worked for a man with two.

**And there will be blood**.


	17. Moonlight Revelations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For mature audiences. Depiction of violence.

> We don't know what kind of people we truly are until the moment before our deaths.

The night was dark, the shadows dancing in the moonlight enveloping Miyeko Nagaki’s body.

She was crouched low on the ground, slowly moving in closer to him, this stranger she knew not the name of. Her eyes were locked on her prey, emerald-colored orbs gleaming in the twilight.

The stranger she has followed since she had stepped outside her home had his own energy signature that she could not forget. She had hidden in the shadows of the trees and the houses she passed by, following him silently. She remembered this road. The stranger, tall and muscular, was heading silently towards the ANBU headquarters, where she herself was given an impossible assignment that would ruin Itachi Uchiha’s life, his family, and her own future. She followed him in the darkness, suppressing her own chakra to make sure she would not be detected. Her nimble body grew in closer to the faceless man’s as he unsuspectedly headed towards a dark part of town where no civilian could cross the intricate chakra perimeter. He looked behind him to make sure that nobody had tailed him, that nobody had seen him.

But there was no one that he saw that followed him to this forsaken place well hidden within the village. No one at all. Not one shadow.

Or so he thought.

The slow downpour was the only witness to his presence in this poorly lit area.

Miyeko slowly stood up, as nimble and fast as a cat and she jumped high into the tree line, her presence still undetected by the man that had spied on her earlier, unaware of her green eyes marking his every move, his every breath. His traitorous gaze had awaked a deep, seething kind of anger that she had felt only a few times before inside her heart. As he picked up the pace to reach the ANBU Headquarters, so did Miyeko Nagaki. 

He was not going to slip away.

She blended in the twilight, her snowy white strand of hair the only part of her that contrasted with the dark purple hues of the night. She made no sound, her breathing slow and controlled, aware of every single living being in her surroundings as he sent slow waves of chakra to scan the area. She felt the presence of two men guarding the faraway door leading down to the darkness below the village, where she herself had been brought earlier that day. As she slowly crept on the nameless man from high up, she noticed just how unmindful he was of his surroundings, a probable lack of sleep affecting his judgment. She snaked her way down the tree line and to the ground once again, her hands pressed together to form a familiar series of hand signs that she expertly weaved together, her green eyes never leaving her prey. 

**Rat, Monkey, Dog, Boar, Serpent.**

‘_Shadow Style: Shadow Immersion no Justu_.’ she whispered as she melted into the darkness of her own shadow, slipping away from reality.

Before the unknown man could even take one more step, Miyeko appeared through his shadow, her body gliding upwards towards the moonlight again, her hand quickly snaking its way to his mouth, his sudden scream muffled into nothingness.

He stopped moving when he felt a kunai pressed against his throat, Miyeko’s breath on his neck. For a moment, Miyeko Nagaki thought of ending his life right there and then, slicing his throat open with the sharp dagger that she held against his pulsating jugular. She could feel him tremble as the rain poured on them. Miyeko fought back the urge to kill him but she knew what she had to do to get the information she needed from him.

Her emerald eyes glimmered with anger, like precious stones in the moonlight.

She needed him alive still, even if it was for just a bit longer. She could bear this agony.

And with the single brutal swing of the kunai’s round rivet against the side of his head, the man fell unconscious to the ground, silent. Miyeko Nagaki’s eyes scanned the area once again, the darkness pushing her to use her Senjutsu chakra sensing once again but detected nothing. With a heavy sigh, she crouched next to the ANBU shinobi, grabbed him, and disappeared with him, leaving no trace of their presence behind.

* * *

When the unnamed shinobi finally woke up from his unconscious state, he was restrained by chakra wires, his mouth covered and was kneeling, facing an unfamiliar yet elegant white marble memorial surrounded by a field of wildflowers. He looked around but saw no one and his heart began to race, his head hurting from the violent blow that rendered him comatosed just moments ago.

He then heard a voice pierce the thickness of the night as its melodic tone crept up his back, chilling him to the bone.

‘You must be wondering where you are.’ said the woman. ‘Most people have forgotten about this place, what it used to be, what it meant to me.’ He could feel her presence, but as he looked around him in a panic, he couldn’t discern her silhouette. He only saw shadows, the white marble of the memorial lit up by the faint moonlight that made its stark color contrast with the night’s penumbra.

The man tried to scream for help but could not. His mouth was restrained by a gag, his entire body wrapped in chakra wires that only his abductor could remove.

‘There’s no need for that, shinobi. No one can hear you scream here. Only the dead.’

And then the ANBU spy understood.

He was kneeling before a pyre, a memorial. He closed his watering eyes, his heart pounding in his chest.

‘You are kneeling before my family’s memorial. This is the Nagaki family’s resting place, where I lost everything a long time ago. My clan’s ancestral house used to stand tall right here where we are. The only things that remain are the dead bodies buried below us.’ Her voice called out, her presence slowly approaching.

The ANBU shinobi tried to remove the chakra wires, to no avail. The woman kept speaking, her blood-curling voice resonating in the night.

He truly was alone with her in this dark meadow, all alone and vulnerable to her rage.

‘The two things that I cared about back then was my beloved sister and my best friend. And now that she’s dead, he’s the one thing that remains that truly matters to me in this world. His name is Itachi Uchiha.’ Miyeko continued, slowly walking out of the curtains of shadows she hid behind. ‘And _ you _ jeopardized his safety.’

Her words made his heart beat faster, his chest heaving under his grey ANBU flak jacket. The unnamed shinobi was truly beginning to be frightened, his dark gaze unfocused. He had never been so scared in his entire life, the petrifying sound of this woman’s voice making his restrained hands tremble.

Her whole entity felt dark, sinister, like nothing he’d ever seen or experienced before.

His abductor moved around him like a willowy shadow, her silhouette invisible to him in the darkness, her presence ephemeral but her voice kept calling out to him, haunting him.

‘You cannot envision the lengths that I’m ready to go to protect him… I can imagine a thousand ways to hurt the ones who would cause him harm. That’s all I can think about at night, sometimes. That and the hollow screams of my family burning and the sight of my sister dying right before my very eyes. But you wouldn’t know anything about that.’

He felt a cold hand suddenly creep up the nape of his neck, its long and pointy fingers grazing his skin ever so dangerously. He squirmed but another hand wrapped up around his shoulders, immobilizing the ANBU spy.

‘How could you? You don’t know who I am and what I live for. For you, it’s just a mission, isn’t it? His life means nothing to you. But to me, he means _ everything _.’

The hand that slowly crept up his throat grew colder, the length of his long forearm slowly coiling around his neck while the other twisted around his chest, slowly making breathing difficult. And then he felt her presence next to him and turned his head around, panicked.

His eyes widened in the darkness when he saw that her alabaster hands were not around him like he thought they were.

_ She wasn’t even touching him at all. _

He screeched in horror on his gag when he saw a dark hand slowly grabbing at his throat.

She then slowly and quietly crouched next to him, her devilish green eyes staring deep into his own dark orbs, fright overtaking him as he saw that the cold and dark hands came straight from her own pulsating chakra, like phantom limbs that aimed to harm him.

‘Do you know why I brought you here to this forgotten place to all but me?’ she asked.

The gag prevented him from speaking. She smiled and turned her head to face the white marble memorial before them, slowly reaching out to touch it. The cold stone felt smooth beneath her fingertips as a cold wind blew in the quiet meadow, the tall wildflowers brushing against the skin of her arms.

Panic emanated from the ANBU spy when he heard her speak again.

‘Because I want _them_ to see that I’ve learned from my mistakes.’ She said, pointing at the alabaster stone memorial. ‘I want them to know that I will make sure no one else will harm the ones I love. Even if it means killing **every **_single_ **_one_** of my enemies.’

She took in a long breath and turned to him once again, this beautiful creature of twilight catching his attention in the most frightening of ways, her long snowy white strand of hair pushed away from the skin of her face by the cold wind of the night.

He could only stare at this shadowy silhouette dressed in black that was moments away from taking his life, the dark chakra limbs she had control over slowly squeezing the air out of his lungs and chest as they venomously coiled around him without mercy.

‘There’s only one thing left for you to do before I send you to hell, shinobi.’ she said, her voice ever so mellow and menacing. ‘_ Tell me who you report to. _’

She quickly removed the gag from his mouth as he inhaled deeply, panicked, and gasped for air. In the depths of the night, he murmured a single name. The wind blew around them again but this time, there would be no more reprise for the ANBU shinobi. Miyeko smiled as the phantom limbs violently tore the man apart, pointy and claw-like hands ripping into his skin and breaking his bones as he shrilled, not one single soul hearing his dying laments.

Blood splattered across the alabaster marble memorial pyre as Miyeko Nagaki left her family’s lands, dark chakra dancing around her as the blood of her enemy soaked the dark soil of her family’s memorial, the dark red liquid spilled out of rage becoming a symbol of the vow she made to herself on that night and for her to keep until her dying breath.

Protecting the one person that always had been there for her, the very same one that even as she trained far away that always kept her wellbeing and safety in mind.

Protecting the one person that always saw her for who she truly was, for who she wanted to become.

Protecting the only soul in her ugly world that meant more to her than life itself.

Itachi Uchiha.

* * *

Kakashi Hatake walked up the stairs to his apartment, tired and slightly drunk. He unlocked the door and neglected to turn on the lights of his genkan. The gray-haired, tall ANBU squad captain removed his sandals and his flak jacket before walking the few steps that led to his living room. His apartment was tiny, but he didn't need much space. He had very few furniture items and even less decoration to make his tiny dwelling place a home.

He headed straight to the kitchen where he filled a tall glass of water and pulled his mask down to drink. The refreshing taste of the cold water going down his throat made him forget, or so he hoped, the bitter taste of the many drinks that Might Guy made him throw down that night. Kakashi Hatake was not much of a drinker but the only person that he ever truly felt comfortable drinking with was none other than the Green Beast of Konoha.

After satisfying his thirst, he gently pulled up his mask and ran his hand through his thick gray mane, wondering just how late it was. His eyes were closed and there was not a sound to hear. His house was silent, just the way he had left it. He turned around to go and lock the door but _something _in the air didn't feel right to him at that moment.

There was a disturbance that suddenly enveloped his living room, a presence that thickened the air he was breathing. That very same presence made the hair on his arms stand straight, beads of cold sweat running down his back at the threat he suddenly felt within his own home. Quickly, he reached for his forehead protector and revealed a pair of mismatched colored eyes, a trait that made him infamous in this vast ninja world. The Sharingan in his left eye glimmered brightly into the darkness of his apartment, the crimson red orb scanning the room.

He could feel something was still not right, the energy around him threatening, menacing.

_ And then that's when he saw her. _

She was quietly sitting in his living room, legs crossed and venomous green eyes staring back at him. His gaze sharpened when he stared back at her, quickly reaching for a kunai in his weapon pouch, his Sharingan examining her from head to toe. There was a swirl of dark chakra around her, caressing her skin. Her entire chakra system was overflowing with this shadowy matter. It enveloped her completely, Miyeko Nagaki basking in her own energy and letting Kakashi see what she could truly do, what she could truly accomplish with her cursed Kekkei Genkai.

In his obscure living room, he found the Shinigami of Konoha, looking at him, looking right through him.

_ So the rumors were indeed true. I couldn’t believe it when Yugao told me what happened during the ambush in the forest of the Lands of Wood, how her chakra manifested as an extension of herself. But now that I can see it with my own eyes… What is this horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach when I look at her? Am I… scared? And what is she doing here… _ he thought.

Miyeko Nagaki smirked, a hint of white from her pearly teeth catching the older shinobi’s attention.

‘Good evening, Captain.’ she said politely. ‘I hope you have been enjoying your little vacation.’

Kakashi’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. ‘Miyeko Nagaki. I must say it is a surprise to find you breaking into my home so late at night. And here I thought I had locked the door, silly me.’ he said in a calm tone, his hand still gripping firmly on the sharpened kunai. As calm and unbothered as Kakashi Hatake appeared to a regular person, there was no fooling Miyeko. There was less than passive aggressivity in the low vibrations of his voice. He heard her laugh softly.

‘Oh, Captain. Please do not mistake this for breaking and entering. You just didn’t see me come in right after you. Too much alcohol, perhaps? That tavern you spent your evening at, it has quite the reputation for overserving their customers. Maybe the waitress gave you a few free rounds when she fawned over your pretty face- that mask can’t fool anyone. You’re not ugly under that silly disguise of yours.’ she said, her smirk making Kakashi even more nervous, his grip on his weapon stronger.

He couldn’t even find a witty reply to her flattering words. His growing frustration got the better of him.

‘You _followed _me?’ he asked, his legendary composure slowly withering away.

‘I don’t _ need _to follow you to know where you are at all times, Kakashi.’

Her energy was completely different from the last time he spoke to her. She had been so calm and collected during their mission in the Lands of Wood and her once brilliant smile had turned into this vile, malicious grin that made him feel uneasy.

‘What are you doing here?’ he asked. ‘This is not what I would consider an appropriate time for visiting an old comrade, now is it?’ His voice was now grave, his baritone echoing in the almost empty apartment.

‘I’m sorry I had to show up here unannounced.’ she said as she sat in the darkness. ‘Truly, I wished it wasn’t like this. But there was a… _ development _I had to urgently let you know about and I doubt it could wait until morning.’ She said, slowly rising from her seat, the sinister aura of hers following her every move, her every step as she walked towards him.

Kakashi Hatake’s senses went into overdrive, his body now moving on its own, listening to his fastening heartbeat, to the rush of adrenaline it felt run through his veins. He moved towards her at the speed of sound and before he even was aware of it, his kunai was now pressed to her throat, his body towering next to hers in a threatening fashion.

Miyeko Nagaki’s shadowy aura had stopped the kunai from touching her skin, creating a barrier between the sensitive skin of her delicate pale neck and the sharp cold blade of Kakashi Hatake’s kunai. The two shinobi looked deep within each other’s eyes, green meeting onyx and crimson in a silent dance of wills, hers against his. Kakashi Hatake of the Sharingan, the hero of the Third Ninja War, was now threatening Konoha’s Shinigami with a blade.

What had happened that it all had come to this?

But here they were now, in the penumbra of his dark apartment, inches away from a deadly altercation.

‘I see you’ve improved your skills with chakra manipulation, Miyeko. Truly impressive. I now see why you have earned your infamous nickname.’ he said, his low voice caressing her ears as she eerily smiled at him, her expression ever so playful yet menacing.

‘You know I hate that nickname.’ she said. ‘But I guess it really doesn’t matter what you call me. You’ll know _ exactly _ who I am by the end of our little conversation, that I can assure you.’

Now, **that** was a threat.

And Kakashi knew it as he pressed the kunai against her chakra barrier with all his might, aiming for the veins in her throat. But his kunai began to tremble against the ectoplasm like substance, its sharp blade rattling. _ What is that thing? _ He asked himself, shaken. _ It’s- It’s protecting her. Is that… her _ ** _controlling_ ** _ it? How is this even possible? _

The Hatake clansman’s frown turned into a deep scowl before Miyeko’s very eyes, his expression changing as he grew more aggravated. Miyeko Nagaki knew she was playing with fire when she entered the famous Kakashi Hatake’s home to bring him a threat. She was not unaware of his deadly reputation. It made her nervous at first, but seeing him eye to eye now, she knew that if she didn’t de-escalate the situation, he wouldn’t hesitate to kill her. As much as Miyeko Nagaki trusted in her abilities, she wasn’t ready to face him in close quarters. Not when he held a blade to her throat. Not when she still didn’t have complete control over her abilities. Kakashi Hatake was simply too much to handle for her, at that time.

Now was not the time to be intimidated by him. 

Miyeko sighed. ‘Put your weapon away, Captain. I’m not here to harm you.’ she said as the dark aura that enveloped her body vanished like smoke, disappearing from sight, leaving Miyeko Nagaki at the mercy of one of the deadliest shinobi of this village with a blade at her throat, completely vulnerable. Kakashi Hatake exhaled sharply, slowly lowering his weapon. He took a step back from the young woman that invaded his home, his guard not lowering.

Miyeko Nagaki smiled and spoke. ‘I came here to let you in on a little secret, Kakashi.’ she said.

‘What secret? Make your point and fast. My patience is wearing thin and I’m getting tired of this.’ he replied, all the more suspicious of her words. Her deep green eyes had never left his gaze.

‘I know you’ve been spying on the Uchiha clan for months now under Danzo’s orders. You’ve been observing the Police Force’s movements for him and disclosed intel on many influential clansmen including Fugaku Uchiha, head of the Uchiha clan, and Chief of Police to the village’s council. But more importantly, I know you’ve been informing that **_monster_** of Itachi Uchiha’s every move and every word ever since he came in as a member of your platoon. And I know you sent a spy to tail me tonight.’

Kakashi Hatake’s mouth went dry, his eyes growing wider. _ This is classified information_, he thought. _ No one knew of this except for… _

‘How did you come to know about this?’ he asked.

That when he heard her laugh. Her laugh was usually enchanting, serene. But this time, it was dark, cruel, vile, oozing with anger.

‘Men talk when they know the end is coming for them, Kakashi. Especially when parts are being ripped away from them one by one. That’s when they have the _most _to say. Your acolyte was not any different than the rest of them.’

Kakashi Hatake took another step back, shocked. He didn’t know what petrified him more: the fact that this man he put his trust in spoke or the fact that it was _her _ who made him talk, this man known by very few who vowed to secrecy. Kakashi’s knees began to tremble, his chest constricting from a sudden rush of anxiety. He was not a man easily intimidated or pushed into a corner.

He was both of those things now. 

‘I heard stories about you ever since I was a young kid, Kakashi. Marvelous things, heroic tales of your many accomplishments. Graduated from the Academy at age five, promoted to Chunin at age six and became one of the best ANBU agents of this village by your seventeenth birthday.’ she became, circling him, her eyes trying to pierce his defenses. ‘Kakashi Hatake, a prodigy of an extinct clan with unnatural shinobi abilities and a war hero. I saw myself in you once, you know. Kuri always praised your legendary abilities and analytical skills, saying you were never swayed by volatile emotions during missions and combat, the perfect ninja. You are the famous Kakashi of the Chidori after all, and apprentice to the Fourth Hokage. Even the legendary Sannin Jiraiya, my master, commended you. I thought you were the kind of shinobi I wished to become, Captain.’ she admitted, the pit in his stomach growing deeper, his hands now shaking, his mouth dry from nerves.

‘That was before I learned what kind of man you truly are.’ she said, her words now heavy, her subtle anger prickling at his skin. ‘That was before I learned that you were ashamed of your father because he would rather save his teammates’ lives than bring a mission to completion.’ Her words hurt deeply now, Kakashi totally immobilized, slightly panting as a sheen of sweat moistened his skin under his forehead protector. _ No, not this. Not this, please. _

‘That was before I learned that in order to succeed in your mission at the Kannabi Bridge, you let your comrades die- or if the rumor is true, kill one of them and earned yourself the nickname of ‘Friend-Killer Kakashi.’

_ Don’t bring this up, please don’t, I beg of you, no more. _

He felt trapped and his chest felt heavy. Every time he heard that gut-wrenching nickname, his mind went blank with uneasiness. His breath was shallow, empty. His hands were sweaty. Images of Obito and Rin now crowded his mind, making his whole body tremble. _ It’s happening again_, he thought. _ Not now, I can’t panic. I can’t show her this- this version of me. Breathe, just breathe, _he thought.

His gaze met hers once again. 

‘That was before you put my undercover mission in peril by sending a spy after me to make sure I stayed loyal to ANBU and Danzo’s cause and by doing so putting _ my _life in danger.’ she said, grabbing Kakashi Hatake by the collar of his shirt, her face inches away from him, her eyes shooting deadly glares at him. 

He could not remember the last time he’d seen fury like this, surpassing even the rage he’d seen in Itachi Uchiha’s eyes a few days prior. The Sharingan wielding youth had worked him enough to know what he was capable of, but this… this was anger on a completely different level. It was visceral, ugly, murderous.

But Miyeko couldn’t say more to him. She would blow her own double-agent cover if she went any further. She released him and exhaled sharply, her anger felt throughout the room.

‘If you _ever _endanger me by asking a fool of a shinobi to spy on me and almost blow my cover again... I swear Kakashi Hatake, you being a complete disappointment to me will be the last of your worries.’

Kakashi Hatake felt winded, the air escaping his lungs as he stood there, paralyzed. In truth, he couldn’t remember the last time he felt this frightened, petrified by just the wrath in someone’s eyes. His heart was beating so fast in his chest it made him dizzy. But Kakashi was immobile as if he were made of stone, his face straight and devoid of emotion. 

But inside, he felt as if she had stabbed him, her every word penetrating his skin like daggers. He hurt inside but he refused to let himself show just how much this affected him. He had not thought of his father nor his teammates on that night. He thought he was finally free of this curse of his. He thought he could finally enjoy a night like an ordinary man, drinking with his friend without a single worry in the world. But life never played in Kakashi Hatake’s favor. Miyeko Nagaki had pulled emotions out of him he thought he’d buried forever, pushed away for good once and for all. But her words reopened old wounds he thought had mended. They had never mended. He had just forgotten that these wounds of his had never stopped bleeding at all. He had just grown numb to the sensation of this unique pain that plagued him ever since he found his father lying on the ground of his ancestral house, lifeless. 

_ Why now, of all times? Why can’t I breathe? _ ** _Why?_ **

Kakashi Hatake had never been so wrong in his life as the day he underestimated the last survivor member of the Nagaki clan, heir to Kuri Nagaki’s darkness and Shinigami of the Hidden Leaf Village and again, on that night, he was reminded of his carelessness, letting this foul creature inside his home and tear down his legendary calm and collected composure, leaving him shaking and panting in the depth of the night’s shadows.

Miyeko Nagaki sighed deeply and gave him a look. ‘Like I said earlier Captain, this was going to be a short conversation. I must be on my way. Just one last thing.’ she said as she turned heels, heading for the door. He listened silently, his heart pounding in his chest.

‘Let me do my job, stay out of my way, and leave Itachi Uchiha alone. You will stop informing Danzo Shimura on him and I expect you to pass along the message to the old fox.’ she said, heading towards the door. ‘Make it known to him that I am loyal to this village and to its people and that I will not go back on my word. That’s the least you can do for me, now.’

And then he heard her laugh. ‘Oh, that’s right! I completely forgot.’ she exclaimed, Kakashi unresponsive as he stood there, in the middle of his apartment, jolted. ‘I told you on our last mission that I felt bad about not bringing that renegade ninja’s head to decorate your fireplace mantle with. Do you remember?’ she asked innocently, but got no answer from the gray-haired ninja.

There was only a long heavy, tension-filled, anxious silence that lingered between them.

_ I remember every single thing that anyone has ever said to me, _he thought.

‘Well, I do.’ she continued as she stepped into his genkan, holding the door open to let the night breeze in. ‘I am a woman of my word, Kakashi. I _did_ bring you a head to decorate your home with this time around. And you know from which neck I took it from.’ she said, pointing in the direction of the Jonin’s fireplace, in his living room. ‘Let it be a reminder of your new loyalty to_ me_.’

And with those words, Miyeko Nagaki stepped outside and closed the door behind her, leaving Kakashi Hatake alone in the emptiness of his house, his eyes slowly moving to where she had pointed, straight at his fireplace. 

His heart almost stopped when he saw the severed head of his acolyte, blood dripping on his pristine and immaculately clean wooden floor as it rested high on his fireplace’s white mantle, gouged out eyes staring into nothingness as Kakashi fell to his knees, nauseous and hyperventilating.

It was back again, this feeling of him not being able to breathe, his chest heavy and painful.

He tried to look at it again but was unable to do so. _ But he had to_.

Without a soul knowing of what had just happened, Kakashi Hatake finally stepped forward, reached for the box of matches lying next to the bloodied severed head that sat on his fireplace mantle with a shaky hand and cracked one lit, lighting a fire for the first time ever since he moved into this apartment years ago and threw the decapitated human part into the flames, erasing all evidence of what had transpired in his home on that fateful night.

He could only hope that his audience with Danzo Shimura scheduled for the next day’s afternoon could be urgently moved to the morning.

* * *

Shisui stood by the Nagaki clan’s memorial, a bouquet of wildflowers in his hands as he walked towards the tall white marble stone, his eyes catching a glimpse of a dark spot on its immaculate whiteness. He felt his feet stick to the ground, a dark substance coating the base of his sandals. He walked towards the white memorial and placed the offering of flowers on its base, his eyes slowly going back to the foreign dark spot that tainted the white marble under the faint moonlight. He slowly traced his fingers over the stone and felt the dark spot smear under his fingers, coating his digits with a trace of dark, crimson red thick liquid. The onyx of his eyes turned into a red Sharingan that inspected his fingertips, rubbing the thick substance between his index finger and thumb, now familiar with the red liquid.

He exhaled slowly, now understanding where he stood.

This was indeed the Nagaki clan’s resting place… And the place where Miyeko Nagaki’s blood trail had begun.

A trail she had left behind as a warning to anyone who would oppose her and her goal of protecting the scheming Uchiha clan and its pride, Itachi Uchiha. Shisui swore under his breath, cursing himself for not being able to see the warning signs he should have paid more attention to. He should have known ANBU would have dragged her into his clan’s mess, into this dark world of his… He should have known that they would target her, one day or the other. He should have known that her intensifying relationship with his younger cousin would one day lead to her involvement in the coup. All of this, he had tried to convince himself of its impossibility. But seeing the blood-soaked ground under his feet, there was no denying that to protect Itachi Uchiha, the sole survivor of the Nagaki clan was ready to forsake her own soul and destroy everything that would cause him and their family harm in the process.

He turned to the white marble stone once more before slowly bowing to it. 

‘I should have seen this coming, my love. I should have protected her better from this. I’m sorry, Kuri.’

In the dead of the night, Shisui Uchiha disappeared, rushed to find the only person Miyeko Nagaki was desperate to protect. The only trace of his presence there was the bouquet of wildflowers he had left at the base of the memorial stone, flowers that had once been Kuri Nagaki’s favorites.

* * *

Itachi Uchiha’s heart was beating fast, that much was undeniable. His palms were sweaty and his brow was as well. As he left the Nagaki clan’s survivor’s home, he stopped and realized that he had never been so profoundly mesmerized by anything in his entire life. What he had shared with the Miyeko Nagaki had been so strong, so vivid… It made him smile. He stopped in the middle of the deserted road, letting himself take a deep breath, his long locks of hair freely floating in the midnight spring wind. For a while, she had made him forget his pain, the burden of being an Uchiha. 

He could still feel the velvety touch of her lips on his, the softness of her skin underneath his fingers, and her delicate scent made his stomach flutter with the kind of emotions that made the smile on his lips grow wider. Itachi Uchiha dared for just a moment to close his eyes and let his mind wander back to the instant she unveiled herself for him, letting herself become bare and vulnerable before him. He had never felt so privileged in his life as the moment he heard her small voice inviting him to discover more of her. 

Was that what it felt like to truly connect with someone? His thoughts spun and spun around in his mind.

Right until he felt the presence of someone behind him, a presence he knew well and trusted.

He turned around and saw Shisui Uchiha’s tall silhouette, his legendary Sharingan looking straight into Itachi’s onyx orbs, a frown decorating his always grave expression. Itachi Uchiha knew from the look his cousin gave him that his worries and fears had come true. He could tell from Shisui’s anxiety-filled Sharingan that the planned coup of their clan had brought in one more victim, one more soul to be tainted.

‘It has begun.’ said Shisui, his voice but a whisper in the night.

Itachi Uchiha sighed, his heart now filled with sadness and anger. In turn, he looked at his cousin with his own Sharingan, crimson meeting crimson.

‘It’s up to the **three** of us to put a stop to this from now on.’


End file.
